PARIS (AP) 鈥� President-elect Donald Trump has tossed expansionist rhetoric at U.S. allies and potential adversaries with arguments that the frontiers of American power need to be extended and the Danish territory , and southward to include the .
Trump's suggestions that international borders can be redrawn 鈥� 鈥� are particularly inflammatory in Europe. His words run contrary to the argument European leaders and are trying to impress on .
But many European leaders 鈥� who've learned to expect the unexpected from Trump and have seen that actions don't always follow his words 鈥� have been measured in their response, with some taking a nothing-to-see-here view rather than vigorously defend European Union member Denmark.
Analysts, though, say that even words can damage U.S.-European relations ahead of Trump's .
A diplomatic response in Europe
Several officials in Europe 鈥� where governments depend on U.S. trade, energy, investment, technology, and defense cooperation for security 鈥� emphasized their belief that Trump has no intention of marching troops into Greenland.
鈥淚 think we can exclude that the United States in the coming years will try to use force to annex territory that interests it,鈥� .
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz 鈥� but carefully, saying 鈥渂orders must not be moved by force" and not mentioning Trump by name.
This week, as Ukrainian President Zelenskyy pressed Trump鈥檚 incoming administration to continue supporting Ukraine, : 鈥淣o matter what鈥檚 going on in the world, everyone wants to feel sure that their country will not just be erased off the map.鈥�
Since Putin marched troops across Ukrainian borders in 2022, Zelenskyy and allies have been fighting 鈥� 鈥� to defend the principle that has underpinned the international order since World War II: that powerful nations can鈥檛 simply gobble up others.
The British and French foreign ministers have said they can't foresee a U.S. invasion of Greenland. Still, French Foreign Minister Jean-No毛l Barrot portrayed Trump鈥檚 remarks as a wake-up call.
"Do we think we鈥檙e entering into a period that sees the return of the law of the strongest?" . 鈥溾�榊es."
On Friday, the prime minister of Greenland 鈥� a semiautonomous Arctic territory that isn鈥檛 part of the EU but whose 56,000 residents are EU citizens, as part of Denmark 鈥� don鈥檛 want to be Americans but that he鈥檚 open to greater cooperation with the U.S.
鈥淐ooperation is about dialogue," leader M煤te B. Egede said.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the U.S. "our closest ally鈥� and said: 鈥淲e have to stand together.鈥�
Analysts find Trump's words troubling
European security analysts agreed there鈥檚 no real likelihood of Trump using the military against NATO ally Denmark, but nevertheless expressed profound disquiet.
Analysts warned of turbulence ahead for trans-Atlantic ties, international norms and the NATO military alliance 鈥� not least because of the with member Canada over Trump's repeated suggestions that it become a U.S. state.
鈥淭here is a possibility, of course, that this is just ... a new sheriff in town," said Flemming Splidsboel Hansen, who specializes in foreign policy, Russia and Greenland at the Danish Institute for International Studies. "I take some comfort from the fact that he is now insisting that Canada should be included in the U.S., which suggests that it is just sort of political bravado.
鈥淏ut damage has already been done. And I really cannot remember a previous incident like this where an important ally 鈥� in this case the most important ally 鈥� would threaten Denmark or another NATO member state.鈥�
Hansen said he fears NATO may be falling apart even before Trump's inauguration.
鈥淚 worry about our understanding of a collective West," he said. "What does this even mean now? What may this mean just, say, one year from now, two years from now, or at least by the end of this second Trump presidency? What will be left?鈥�
Security concerns as possible motivation
Some diplomats and analysts see a common thread in Trump's eyeing of Canada, the Panama Canal and Greenland: securing resources and waterways to strengthen the U.S. against potential adversaries.
Paris-based analyst Alix Frangeul-Alves said Trump's language is 鈥渁ll part of his 鈥楳ake America Great Again鈥� mode.鈥�
In Greenland's soils, she noted, are critical for advanced and green technologies. China dominates global supplies of the valuable minerals, which the U.S., Europe and other nations view as a security risk.
鈥淎ny policy made in Washington is made through the lens of the competition with China,鈥� said Frangeul-Alves, who focuses on U.S. politics for the German Marshall Fund.
Some observers said Trump's suggested methods are fraught with peril.
Security analyst Alexander Khara said Trump鈥檚 claim that 鈥渨e need Greenland for national security purposes鈥� reminded him of Putin's comments on Crimea when .
Suggesting that borders might be flexible is 鈥渁 completely dangerous precedent,鈥� said Khara, director of the Centre for Defense Strategies in Kyiv.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in a time of transition from the old system based on norms and principles,鈥� he said, and 鈥渉eading to more conflicts, more chaos and more uncertainty.鈥�
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AP journalists Jill Lawless in London; Raf Casert in Brussels; Daria Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; Geir Moulson and David Keyton in Berlin; and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed.
John Leicester, The Associated Press
