Donald Trump's clear want for Greenland and Arctic control will take "decades" for Europe to recover from, a political analyst has claimed.
NATO has been pushed to its breaking point by the president's "off-the-rails" attitude to territory, with CNN commentator Stephen Collinson suggesting this could be a make or break moment for Europe's relationship with the US. He wrote, "A severing of transatlantic ties would also complicate some of Trump’s other priorities, such as his desire for European support and funding for his initiative to stabilize and rebuild Gaza.
"And if he really is serious about ending the Ukraine war, it can’t be done fairly without Europe. NATO alliance members might also turn away from US arms purchases and investment."
"Yet NATO states remain deeply vulnerable to Trump. Decades of underspending on defense have left them reliant on America’s military might 80 years after World War II and nearly 35 after the Cold War ended."
"There is a genuine will in Europe to be more independent. But it will take decades to build scale and all-around resilience, assuming weak governments can convince disgruntled voters to make sacrifices for defense spending."
"Ultimately, this unbalanced dynamic in the Western alliance has as much to do with the current impasse as the off-the-rails American president."
Opposition to Trump's rhetoric and possible actions on Greenland had been raised by several NATO member countries. Trump's administration announced tariff action would be taken against the UK, Denmark, and Germany among others for their stance on Greenland.
A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said, "He [Starmer] also said that applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of NATO allies is wrong."
Trump's plan would see a 10% tariff introduced on goods from the eight countries - Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK - from February 1, which could rise to 25% from June 1, until a deal was struck.