'Don’t understand what you’re doing': Trump shares Macron's private text amid Greenland standoff

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday made public what appeared to be a private text message from French President Emmanuel Macron, as the former’s renewed push to acquire Greenland triggered sharp rebukes across Europe.

“Note from President Emmanuel Macron, of France,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, sharing a screenshot of a text message.

The message reads: “My friend, We are totally in line on Syria. We can do great things on Iran. I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland.”

The message also suggested a possible Group of Seven meeting in Paris after the World Economic Forum in Davos and a private dinner between the two leaders.

"I can set up a G7 meeting after Davos in Paris on Thursday afternoon. I can invite the Ukrainians, the Danish, the Syrians and the Russians in the margins," the message stated. "Let’s have a dinner together in Paris on Thursday before you go back to the US."

The post came as Trump intensified pressure on Denmark and other European countries to agree to the transfer of Greenland to US ownership.

Over the weekend, Trump announced that beginning February 1, 2026, the United States would impose a 10% tariff on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland unless a deal is reached over Greenland.

He argued the tariffs were justified by decades of US military protection of Europe and claimed China and Russia were seeking control of the Arctic island.

The White House has not ruled out the possibility of taking control of Greenland by force.

On Monday, Trump tied his hardening stance to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in a text message released by the White House that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace.”

The remarks appeared to further inflame a standoff between Washington and its closest allies over the future of Greenland, a self-governing territory of NATO member Denmark.

In a rare joint statement issued Sunday, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland condemned Trump’s tariff threats, warning they “undermine transatlantic relations and risks a dangerous downward spiral.”

The statement marked the strongest collective rebuke of Trump by European allies since his return to the White House nearly a year ago, after months in which European leaders largely sought to manage relations through diplomacy despite growing unease.

The countries said that troops deployed to Greenland as part of Operation Arctic Endurance posed “no threat to anyone”.

“We will not allow ourselves to be put under pressure, and those types of threats are unacceptable between close allies,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said at a news conference.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Greenland’s status was not open to coercion.

“Our position on Greenland is very clear — it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and its future is a matter for the Greenlanders and the Danes,” Starmer said, adding that using tariffs against allies for pursuing NATO’s collective security was “completely wrong.”

Macron called the tariff threat “unacceptable,” saying Europe “will not be swayed by any intimidation.”

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said European allies would not be “blackmailed,” while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that tariffs would erode transatlantic trust and violate core principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity under international law.