PresidentDonald Trump'sposturing overGreenlandhas irrevocably changed the transatlantic relationship, even after he backed away Wednesday from his threats of a US takeover of the Danish autonomous territory,Europeanofficials told CNN.
One European diplomat, speaking anonymously, described the last week as a "whirlwind of absurdity that damages transatlantic relations, distracts from Ukraine and makes China and Russia very happy."
Tensions between the United States and its European allies, bound together under the collective security umbrella of NATO, reached a fever pitch last weekend when Trump threatened to impose tariffs on the nations opposing his ambitions to annex Greenland, a vast, strategically important Arctic island that has belonged to Denmark for centuries.
Denmark and its European allies refused to yield to Trump's demands and considered deploying trade weapons of their own in retaliation, making for a strained atmosphere at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week.
Trump ruled out using military force to annex Greenland in his keynote speech at Davos on Wednesday, and he went on to drop his threatened tariffs and announce "the framework of a future deal" over the island after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
But the diplomatic chaos he unleashed over the last two weeks still lingers, with profound ramifications for the US-European economic and diplomatic relationship. A key group of European Parliament members blocked a vote to ratify a US-European trade deal Wednesday, underscoring the tensions between the transatlantic allies.
"Trust has been truly damaged, and this will take time to repair," Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch told CNN.
"The last few weeks, apart from a very turbulent first year, have been very damaging for the relationship between the European Union, Europe and the US."
Still, reflecting the diplomatic tightrope that Europe is walking, some European leaders underlined the importance of the transatlantic alliance, even its current bruised form.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on Europe to renew its faith in NATO, positioning the alliance as crucial for the continent – and the US – to navigate a new world order increasingly dictated by force.
"The old world order is unraveling at a breathtaking pace," he said in a speech Thursday at Davos.
"We must invest massively in our ability to defend ourselves. We must rapidly make our economies competitive. We must stand closer together, among Europeans and among like-minded partners."
He reiterated Germany's support for Denmark and Greenland, adding pointedly that Berlin would uphold "the principles on which the transatlantic partnership is founded — sovereignty and territorial integrity."
One European official struck a slightly more optimistic tone to CNN, noting that while "everything is transactional and unpleasant … we can still reach good results."
And Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre emphasized that "NATO countries are cooperating day-by-day very closely."
"Europe has its challenges. The United States has its challenges," he told CNN. "But they're all strong democracies, and they are allies in NATO. … We have great security to look after us and a very proud history of collaborating on that."
The NATO alliance itself dates back 77 years, during which time American and European security structures have become intertwined. Dovilė Šakalienė, a Lithuanian lawmaker and former defense minister, said they are now so interconnected that any split would be "like a separation of Siamese twins with quite possible certain death for both."
"Europe is not yet ready to stand alone," she told CNN. "It is going to take at least five to 10 years until we are on a somewhat similar level with the United States armed forces."
Finnish President Alexander Stubb added that "it's in the vested interest of the United States to stay in NATO," though he acknowledged that the US has been carrying "the biggest share of NATO's defense."
In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, he said he believed the tensions were caused by divergent approaches to world affairs. Europe prefers "multilateralism … the liberal world order, international institutions," while the US leans toward "multipolarity … deals, transactions and sphere of interests," he suggested.
However, for former European Council president Charles Michel, the last two weeks indicate that the transatlantic relationship "as we've known it for decades is dead."
Europe will have to go through a period of "political confrontation" with the US as it reasserts itself, he told CNN ahead of an emergency summit of EU leaders that was called to discuss Trump's threats over Greenland.
"Do we want to be a vassal, a humiliated vassal, forever, or do we want to be able to be master of our destiny?" he said.
Michel, whose tenure leading the European Council from 2019 to November 2024 overlapped with Trump's first term, said he believes that European leaders now need a new approach to the US president.
"In recent months, what we did, I feel, was a mistake," he said. "We've chosen … flattering diplomacy. We therefore decided to appease the White House. And what is the effect? The only effect is it's fueled more and more ambition and more and more progression in the rhetoric. … It doesn't work."
CNN's Charlotte Reck, Erin Burnett, Christiane Amanpour and Jim Sciutto contributed to this report.
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