Deploying tools of Artificial Intelligence (AI), with some tactics described as plain old “bullying”, US President Donald Trump has escalated his campaign to reshape global geography and diplomacy, vowing there is “no going back” on his ambition to seize control of Greenland.
His arsenal now includes leaked private correspondence and AI-generated propaganda, along with tariff threats. This has earned him a description as “an international gangster” from a top leader in the UK, a longtime American ally.
And Greenland is not all. There’s Gaza too.
The realty tycoon-cum-reality TV star has been more ballistic as a second-time President, as he targets not only the sovereignty of the Arctic island of Greenland that’s held by Denmark, but also the autonomy of European policy on the Palestinian territory of Gaza and the wider Middle East. He has picked a fight with the French President over his country joining, or not, the Gaza “Board of Peace”.
But his administration is insisting — while world leaders gather for the World Economic Forum in Switzerland’s Davos — that it’s nothing big.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent dismissed concerns as “hysteria”. Trump, meanwhile, refused to rule out the use of force to fulfil his expansionist desires.
Trump’s upfront threats, Nobel obsession
“As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security. There can be no going back — On that, everyone agrees!” Trump defiantly posted on social media after a talk with security grouping NATO’s secretary-general, Mark Rutte.
Trump has insisted the US “requires” the island for security reasons to counter perceived threats from China and Russia.
In a letter to Norway, he made no secret that his not getting the Nobel Peace Prize — given by a committee in the Scandinavian nation — is a reason why he “no longer” wants to pursue peace and wants Greenland any-which-way.
The 2025 laureate, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, has already presented her medal to Donald Trump. This may improve her chances in her home country after the US “seized” President Nicolas Maduro recently. But the Nobel Foundation has confirmed that an award remains permanently associated with the individual to whom it was originally granted.
Planting a flag, baiting the world
An unfazed Trump posted AI-generated mock-ups on social media, including an image of himself in Greenland planting a US flag. Another depicted the Oval Office featuring a map where both Greenland and Canada were covered by the Stars and Stripes. Trump has repeatedly said he wants Canada to “become the 51st state”, getting sharp reactions from Ottawa.
But mock digital imagery was no limit. Trump dropped all adherence to any diplomatic protocol by leaking private communications too.
He published a text message from French President Emmanuel Macron, in which the latter expressed confusion over the American pursuit of Greenland. While an official at the Elysée Palace confirmed the message was genuine, they noted it merely showed that Macron took the same views in private as he did in public.
Trump, meanwhile, continued to brandish the tariff stick.
Tariff threat again, and again
He announced a 10% to 25% import tax, set to begin in February, targeting eight European nations that have supported Denmark’s refusal to negotiate the sale of Greenland. He explicitly linked these tariffs to the recent deployment of European troops to the island.
This pattern — seen in his dealing with India over Delhi’s oil deals with Russia — extends to his plans for the Middle East.
In his fight with the French President, too, when Macron showed reluctance to join the “Board of Peace”, fearing the initiative would undermine the United Nations, Trump responded with a massive threat.
“I’ll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes, and he’ll join, but he doesn’t have to join,” Trump told reporters.
He added, “Well, nobody wants him, because he will be out of office very soon.”
The proposed board has further raised eyebrows due to a draft charter requiring member nations to contribute $1 billion in cash to maintain their membership beyond three years.
India and Pakistan, even Russia, are among at least 60 countries that have got Trump’s invitation.
Pushback in UK; Europe readies for impact
It’s in the UK that the reaction to Trump’s tactics has been particularly visceral.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey delivered a stinging rebuke in Parliament.
“President Trump is acting like an international gangster,” Davey said, accusing him of “threatening to trample over the sovereignty of an ally, threatening the end of NATO altogether, and now threatening to hit our country and seven European allies with outrageous, damaging tariffs unless he gets his hands on Greenland”.
Davey, leader of the third largest party in UK’s parliament after the ruling Labour Party and the Conservatives, argued that the UK’s policy of “appeasing Trump, flattering him, [and] fawning over him” had failed.
Arguing that the historic “special relationship” is now “nearly in tatters”, Davey characterised the President as “the most corrupt president the United States has ever seen” and “a bully… who thinks he can grab whatever he wants using force if necessary”.
According to Davey, the only world leaders benefiting from this chaos are Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping of Russia and China.
Beyond the rhetoric, as the February deadline for the new tariffs approaches, the European Union is preparing its response. Diplomats are considering a 93-billion euro tariff riposte, and the activation of the Anti-Coercion Instrument that could allow the bloc to sanction individuals or institutions, restrict investments, or limit access to lucrative digital services.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has suggested a more permanent shift is underway, speaking of a “new independent Europe”.
Trump’s administration, amid all this, has attempted to project it’s all part of the game. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, speaking in Davos, urged allies to “take a deep breath” and “sit back, relax”. He insisted that relations have never been closer.
(inputs from Reuters, AP)