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| Trump’s Greenland Obsession Backfires: Europe’s Far-Right Allies Start Calling Him a Problem. |
What happens when your biggest fans suddenly feel threatened by you? That’s exactly what Donald Trump is finding out—after his bold (and controversial) push to take over Greenland sent shockwaves across Europe.
Donald Trump’s latest geopolitical move has done something few expected: it’s turning his far-right allies in Europe against him.
For years, Europe’s nationalist and far-right leaders praised Trump as a symbol of strength, sovereignty, and “nation-first” politics. But his recent comments and actions around Greenland have crossed a line—one that hits at the very core of what these movements claim to stand for: national sovereignty.
Trump’s suggestion that the US should take control of Greenland, combined with threats of economic pressure against countries that resist, immediately rang alarm bells across Europe. And when he added fuel to the fire by downplaying the role of NATO allies’ troops in Afghanistan, the backlash grew louder—and more personal.
Faced with mounting criticism, Trump has since stepped back. He said he would not seize Greenland by force or slap tariffs on opposing countries. He also appeared to soften his remarks about NATO allies. But for many European far-right leaders, the damage was already done.
Just months ago, these same politicians were cheering Trump’s return to the White House. They gathered in Madrid under banners like “Make Europe Great Again,” openly celebrating his America First agenda. Now, enthusiasm has turned into hesitation—and in some cases, outright criticism.
Polls show Trump is deeply unpopular across Europe, including among far-right voters. Many Europeans now see him as a destabilizing force rather than a reliable ally. According to recent polling by European affairs platform Le Grand Continent, between 18% and 25% of far-right voters in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain now view Trump as an “enemy of Europe.”
Even more striking, up to nearly half of far-right voters in those countries say they would support sending European troops to Greenland if tensions with the US escalate further. That’s a remarkable shift for movements that usually reject military intervention and EU coordination.
Trump’s expansionist tone has put Europe’s far right in an uncomfortable spot. Leaders who usually attack Brussels for “overreach” suddenly sound like mainstream politicians, warning about coercion, sovereignty, and imperial-style pressure.
In the European Parliament, far-right lawmakers—many of them normally pro-Trump—supported freezing the ratification of a major EU-US trade deal. Their reason? Deep unease over what they called threats to European sovereignty.
Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s National Rally, summed up the mood perfectly. Just weeks after praising Trump as “a wind of freedom,” he now called the Greenland plan “a direct challenge to the sovereignty of a European country.” Using trade pressure, he argued, isn’t diplomacy—it’s coercion.
Germany’s AfD also shifted tone. Party co-leader Alice Weidel said Trump had broken a core campaign promise by interfering in other nations’ affairs. Even Britain’s Nigel Farage—one of Trump’s most loyal supporters—described the Greenland threats as openly hostile.
Leaders who are currently in power were more cautious. Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni criticized the idea of deploying European troops to Greenland but later admitted she told Trump directly that his approach was a mistake. Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Poland’s president Karol Nawrocki chose diplomatic language, urging calm and dialogue.
Still, nearly everyone agreed on one thing: Trump’s comments about NATO troops in Afghanistan crossed a line. Italian leaders pointed to the heavy toll their country paid—dozens killed and hundreds wounded. Polish and Czech officials echoed the sentiment, stressing that their soldiers deserved respect, not dismissal.
Analysts say it’s too early to know whether this rift will last. Domestic politics may force far-right leaders to push back harder if sovereignty remains under threat. At the same time, shared priorities like immigration could pull Trump and his European allies back together.
For now, though, Greenland has become a symbol of something bigger. It shows how quickly political friendships can crack when power, pressure, and sovereignty collide—even among supposed ideological allies.
