President Trump added a new dimension into his increasingly aggressive pursuit of Greenland , telling Norway that he no longer needed to think “purely of peace” after being snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize. European leaders are looking to take the heat out of the rapidly escalating issue, in hope that Trump won’t follow through with his pledge. In Brussels, EU officials and diplomats are taking the U.S. threats extremely seriously and see them as the latest evidence of a fundamental reshaping of trans-Atlantic ties. European officials are searching for ways to respond to the president without escalating the situation into a broader trade spat or capitulating on security in the face of his trade threats. European officials also point out that imposing tariffs on some—but not all—EU countries would be very difficult to enforce because the bloc operates as a single market.

Source: Wall Street Journal January 19, 2026 13:59 UTC