In addition to meeting the leaders of France and Germany, Frederiksen also held talks with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels and last week spoke by phone with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Diplomats have now set aside time to discuss European relations with Trump — likely including the Greenland crisis — at an informal meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Feb. 3, according to several people familiar with the plans. Starmer is also due to attend the gathering, as London and Brussels seek closer cooperation on defense and security.
Trump’s return to the White House just over a week ago has already tested the resolve of America’s allies across the Atlantic. The strategy in Europe and the U.K. so far has been to ignore the noise and focus on what Trump actually does. Avoiding a public war of words, where possible, is widely seen as the best approach in capitals from London to Copenhagen.
“There was clear consensus that last time we ended up in a situation where we responded to every tweet,” said one diplomat, who like others was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive issues. “We cannot spend four years reacting to every tweet.”
On Greenland, however, which has vast mineral reserves and occupies a strategic position in the Arctic, the EU’s watch-and-wait approach to apparent U.S. designs on the territory seems to be running out of road.
“The situation is really serious and everyone thinks that the European reaction so far hasn’t been very credible,” another European diplomat said. “We’ve moved on from shock and denial, we’re now changing gear.”
Frederiksen and European Council President António Costa have held several conversations about Trump and Greenland in recent weeks. “We have been coordinating whatever we would or will say on Greenland very closely with the Danes from the beginning,” a senior EU official confirmed.
“We are totally and fully supportive of whatever Denmark and Greenland decide,” the senior EU official said. “We are ready, and the Danes know that, to reaffirm that whenever needed.”
