U.S. President Donald Trump publicly shared a screenshot of a private message from French President Emmanuel Macron on his Truth Social account on Tuesday, escalating a trans-Atlantic dispute over Washington’s push to take control of Greenland and raising the prospect of steep new trade measures against France.
The screenshot—titled “A message from President Emmanuel Macron on behalf of France”—was described by multiple Macron aides as authentic, though they did not specify when it was sent. In the note, Macron addresses Trump directly: “My friend, we fully agree on Syria. We can do great work on Iran. I do not understand what you are doing in Greenland. Let’s try to do something big.” He proposes hosting a post-Davos meeting in Paris with G7 members and representatives from Ukraine, Denmark and Russia, followed by a dinner with Trump.
Macron has been among the most forceful European critics of Trump’s Greenland plan, urging the EU to prepare its strongest trade instruments in response and dispatching French troops to the island in support of Denmark’s posture. Trump, for his part, signaled retaliation, saying he would move to impose a 200% tariff on French wine and champagne and that he does not want Macron included in a planned U.S.-led “Board of Peace” overseeing Gaza reconstruction and governance—an initiative Paris has warned could undercut the UN’s role.
The revelation of Macron’s message and the tariff threat come as European governments rally around Denmark, while a bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation visits Nuuk to tamp down tensions. Trump has framed Greenland as a national-security priority for the United States and has said Washington will secure the island “the easy way or the hard way.”