Donald Trump’s attempt to acquire Greenland has created a rift between the U.S. president and some of his ideological allies in Europe. Their previously unwavering enthusiasm and admiration are now clashing with a core principle of the far right: national sovereignty.
Trump’s later remark that NATO allies’ troops “stayed a little off the frontlines” while fighting alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan has only widened this divide, offending far-right patriotic sentiments and triggering a wave of criticism.
Last week, the U.S. president backed away from his push to seize Greenland, stating he would not use force or impose tariffs on opposing nations. Faced with a strong backlash, he also seemed to soften his criticism of non-U.S. NATO troops.
However, for radical-right populists—who lead or support governments in a third of EU member states and are competing for power in others—Trump is increasingly seen as a liability. They had viewed him as a powerful ally for their nationalist, anti-immigration, and EU-skeptic agenda.
This growing divide could undermine the goals of his administration’s national security strategy, which aimed to “cultivate resistance” to Europe’s “current trajectory” by collaborating with “patriotic allies” to prevent what it termed “civilizational erasure.”
Just over a year ago, Europe’s far-right leaders were warmly welcoming Trump’s return to the White House. Months later, they gathered in Madrid to endorse his America First agenda under the slogan “Make Europe Great Again.”
Recently, however, some have begun to reconsider. Polls consistently show Trump is highly unpopular in Europe. Most Europeans, including many far-right voters, view the U.S. president as a threat to the EU and desire a stronger bloc.
A poll published on Tuesday by the Paris-based platform Le Grand Continent indicated that between 18% and 25% of far-right voters in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain consider Trump an “enemy of Europe.”
When asked to define his foreign policy, between 29% and 40% of supporters of France’s National Rally (RN), Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), Italy’s Brothers of Italy (FdI), and Spain’s Vox chose the description “recolonization and the predation of global resources.”
Perhaps most strikingly, between 30% and 49% of far-right voters in these four countries said that if tensions with the U.S. over Greenland escalated further, they would support deploying European troops to the territory.
Trump’s expansionist approach and his readiness to use economic leverage to achieve it have placed Europe’s far right in a difficult position. Leaders in France, Germany, and Italy have all criticized his plans, some sounding remarkably similar to the mainstream politicians they typically oppose.
In a European Parliament debate last week, typically pro-Trump, far-right MEPs overwhelmingly supported freezing ratification of an EU-U.S. trade deal due to their unease with his tactics, labeling them “coercion” and “threats to sovereignty.”
Jordan Bardella, Marine Le Pen’s protégé and president of France’s RN, who just weeks ago described Trump as “a wind of freedom,” called the U.S. president’s pledge to seize Greenland “a direct challenge to the sovereignty of a European country.”
He told the debate, “When a U.S. president threatens a European territory using trade pressure, it’s not dialogue, it is coercion.” Bardella added that Greenland was “a strategic pivot in a world returning to imperial logic,” and that “yielding would set a dangerous precedent.”Jordan Bardella in a European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg on January 21. Photograph: Yoan Valat/EPA
Typically a fierce critic of alleged EU overreach, Bardella instead urged the bloc to unite and fight back with the toughest tools at its disposal. “This isn’t escalation, it’s self-defense,” he said. “The choice is simple: submission or sovereignty.”
Alice Weidel, a co-leader of Germany’s AfD, which had welcomed Trump’s national security strategy as the start of a “conservative renaissance” in Europe, said in Berlin that he had “broken a fundamental campaign promise—not to interfere in other countries.”
Even Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK and a Trump loyalist, called it “a very hostile act” for a U.S. president to be “threatening tariffs unless we agree he can take over Greenland… without even getting the consent of the people of Greenland.”
Nigel Farage at a Trump campaign rally in 2020. Photograph: Ross D Franklin/AP
Mindful of potential retaliation, far-right and populist leaders already in office—rather than campaigning for it—were less outspoken. Italy’s “Trump-whispering” Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, criticized the deployment of European troops to Greenland, but even she eventually said she had told the U.S. president in a call that his threats over Greenland were “a mistake.”
Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s illiberal prime minister and perhaps Europe’s most prominent Trump supporter, avoided the question. “It’s an in-house issue… It’s a NATO issue,” Orbán, who has long boasted of his friendship with the U.S. president, said of Trump’s Greenland plans.
Similarly, Poland’s nationalist, Trump-aligned President, Karol Nawrocki, said last week that tensions over Greenland should be resolved “diplomatically” between Washington and Copenhagen, without dragging in a broader Europe-wide debate.
Nawrocki stressed that the U.S. remained a “very important ally” to his country and urged Western European leaders to soften their objections to Trump’s actions. In the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš also warned against a transatlantic dispute.
But if some leaders were cautious about openly criticizing Trump over Greenland, there was near-universal outrage at the U.S. president’s comments about NATO allies’ troops in Afghanistan, which Meloni described on social media as “unacceptable.”
The Italian prime minister said her country had paid “a cost that cannot be questioned: 53 Italian soldiers killed and more than 700 wounded.” She said Italy and the U.S. were “bound by a solid friendship” but that “friendship requires respect.”
Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office with Trump in April 2025. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
Nawrocki said there was no doubt that his country’s soldiers—more than 40 of whom lost their lives in Afghanistan—were heroes. “They deserve respect and words of gratitude for their service,” he said.
Babiš was equally critical. Fourteen Czech soldiers had died in Afghanistan, the Czech prime minister said, adding that he knew Trump “likes to provoke and doesn’t mince words, but what he said about the mission in Afghanistan was way off the mark.”
Analysts said it was too early to tell if this divide would last. Daniel Hegedüs of the German Marshall Fund said domestic electoral considerations would force many far-right parties to respond to any continued threats to sovereignty. But he added that Trump and his European ideological allies “can always unite forces again around issues where they can cooperate,” such as immigration.
Pawel Zerka of the European Council on Foreign Relations said far-right leaders would not lose out. “Far-right leaders in France, Germany and Britain are unlikely to lose points,” Zerka noted. They had “demonstrated timely criticism” of Trump’s excesses.Meanwhile, mainstream leaders and the EU largely failed to demonstrate strength, unity, and decisiveness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about the topic Enemy of Europe How Trumps pursuit of Greenland alarmed his farright allies written in a natural conversational tone
Beginner Definition Questions
1 What is the Enemy of Europe story about
Its about how former US President Donald Trumps serious interest in buying Greenland in 2019 unexpectedly created tension with his populist farright allies in Europe who typically supported him
2 Why did Trump want to buy Greenland
Trump was interested in Greenlands strategic location and natural resources He saw it as a valuable geopolitical and economic asset for the United States
3 Who are the farright allies mentioned
These are populist nationalist political parties and leaders in Europe who generally admired Trumps America First policies Key examples include politicians from the Danish Peoples Party and similar figures in other EU countries
4 How did Denmark and Greenland react
They were shocked and immediately rejected the idea The Danish Prime Minister called the notion absurd and Greenlanders emphasized they were not for sale It was seen as a colonialera proposition
Advanced Analytical Questions
5 Why would this upset Trumps farright allies in Europe
While these allies liked Trumps nationalism they are also fierce defenders of their own national sovereignty and identity Seeing a powerful ally casually propose buying part of a European kingdom felt like a violation of that very principle It showed them that America First could come at their expense
6 Whats the irony in this situation
The great irony is that Trumps action mirrored the kind of globalist powerpolitics move that these farright groups usually accuse the EU or multinational organizations of doing It undermined their argument that a Trumpled US was a pure champion of national sovereignty for all nations
7 Did this affect political dynamics within Denmark
Yes temporarily It created a rare moment of unity in Denmark with all major parties condemning the idea It put the Danish Peoples Party in a bindcaught between their support for Trump and their need to defend Danish sovereignty
8 What does this reveal about the relationship between Trump and European farright movements
It revealed that the alliance was transactional and based on a shared opposition to common enemies like the
