While on Wednesday Trump backtracked on his administration\u2019s threats, saying he will not take Greenland by force and would suspend his tariff threats, powerful right-wing figures in the continent\u2019s capitals and core EU institutions have already shifted their narrative to adapt to the transatlantic hostility, mimicking the centrist leaders they loathe and dialing up the rhetoric against American imperialism.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we should be honest,\u201d said Nicola Procaccini, the leader of the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, who is also Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni\u2019s right-hand man in the chamber. \u201cWhen Trump is wrong, we should say he\u2019s wrong, when he\u2019s right, we should say he is right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jordan Bardella, president of France\u2019s far-right National Rally, and Nigel Farage, the populist leader of Reform UK, condemned Trump\u2019s escalating threats over Greenland and his use of tariffs as coercive leverage against the very countries they hope to govern. Both are wary of appearing too close to a figure increasingly viewed by public opinion, including their voters, as a hostile force.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s aggressive push on Greenland \u201cgoes way beyond a diplomatic disagreement,\u201d Bardella said in the European Parliament on Tuesday, describing the U.S. president\u2019s tariff threats as \u201cblackmail\u201d and accusing him of attempting the \u201cvassalization\u201d of Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the same address he called on the EU to activate its so-called trade bazooka, also known as the anti-coercion instrument, aligning with the position of his rival, President Emmanuel Macron. That puts Bardella at odds with a leader to whom he has long felt an affinity: Meloni, whose government is still advocating<\/a> a let\u2019s-keep-calm-and-negotiate approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n