European far-right leaders distance from Trump over Greenland

Friday 23 January 2026 - 10:20

By: Dakir Madiha

European far-right leaders distance from Trump over Greenland

Former ideological allies in Europe's populist and far-right parties are publicly breaking ranks with U.S. President Donald Trump amid his aggressive push to acquire Greenland. Leaders in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom now label his approach "unacceptable," "Wild West tactics," and "hostile act," marking a sharp rift with their onetime champion.

The split intensified last week as Trump ramped up pressure on eight European nations including Denmark, Germany, France, and the UK—threatening tariffs unless they yield to American control of the Danish territory. European governments responded by deploying military personnel to the Arctic island at Denmark's request, deepening transatlantic tensions.

Europe's nationalist right unleashed fierce backlash. Alice Weidel, co-chair of Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) a party with deep Trump administration ties accused him of breaching a core campaign pledge not to meddle in other nations' affairs. Co-chair Tino Chrupalla slammed Trump's methods as "Wild West tactics."

In France, National Rally President Jordan Bardella seen as the frontrunner for the 2027 presidential race called Trump's threats to European sovereignty "unacceptable" and urged the EU to suspend its trade deal with Washington. He framed recent U.S. actions, including a military incursion in Venezuela, as a "return to imperial ambitions."

Britain's Nigel Farage, arguably Trump's staunchest European backer, deemed the tariff threats "wrong, bad, and very, very hurtful," likening the crisis to the deepest fracture in UK-U.S. ties since Suez in 1956. Sweden Democrats ideologue Mattias Karlsson went further on X, posting that "Trump increasingly looks like a reverse King Midas. Everything he touches turns to shit."

The backlash signals growing recognition that Trump ties could become electoral liabilities. A Tuesday Forsa poll showed 71 percent of Germans viewing the U.S. under Trump more as adversary than ally. Only about a third of AfD and National Rally voters hold positive views of him, per the Kyiv Independent.

Political watchers point to Canada as cautionary tale: Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre watched his 20-point lead vanish amid Trump's fixation on making Canada the "51st state," costing him his parliamentary seat in the April 2025 election.

Not all populists condemned Trump. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, and Italy's Matteo Salvini urged restraint without direct criticism. Salvini blamed European nations for escalating by sending troops to Greenland.

At Davos on Tuesday, Trump ruled out military force for Greenland but demanded "immediate negotiations" and warned Denmark: "They can say yes, and we'll be grateful. Or they can say no, and we'll remember."

Sebastien Maillard, special advisor at the Jacques Delors Institute, told the Kyiv Independent: "It shows how contradictory it is to back Trump's policies while claiming to protect your nation's sovereignty. Defending national interests and supporting Trump's America First simply isn't sustainable."