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US President Donald Trump snubbed the French President Emmanuel Macron's call for an emergency G-7 meeting amid the rising tensions over Washington's push to acquire Greenland.
Speaking to the press on completion of his first year of the second term, Trump said that he will not attend the proposed meeting, suggesting there's uncertainty over Macron's political future. "No, I wouldn't do that...Because Emmanuel is not going to be there very long and there's no longevity there," he said. This comes after Trump posted a screenshot of Macron's message on Truth Social, inviting US President for a G7 meeting after the World Economic Forum. Macron affirmed that France and the US were in line on Syria and could do great things in Iran, but do not understand his stance on Greenland. The message by Macron in full reads: "My friend, We are totally in line on Syria. We can do great things on Iran. I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland. Let us try to build great things: 1) I can set up a G7 meeting after Davos in Paris on Thursday afternoon. I can invite the Ukrainians, the Danes, the syrians and the Russians in the margins. 2) Let us have dinner together in Paris on Thursday before you go back to the US, Emmanuel." Additionally, when asked about how far he is willing to go to acquire Greenland, Trump said, "You will find out." Trump further lashed out at NATO, alleging that it has been treating the US "unfairly" and questioned their capabilities to help Washington. "I did more for NATO than any other person alive or dead...But NATO has to treat us fairly, too. The big fear I have with NATO is that we spend tremendous amounts of money with NATO, and I know we'll come to their rescue, but I just really do question whether or not they'll come to ours," he said. Earlier, Macron at the World Economic Forum sharply criticised the United States' trade practice, saying Washington's tariff threats "openly aim to weaken and subordinate Europe" and are being used as leverage against territorial sovereignty. Macron highlighted rising global instability and imbalances across security, defence, and economic domains. "It is clear that we are moving into a time of instability and imbalances, both from a security, defence, and economic point of view," he said. The French President expressed concern that without collective governance, global competition is becoming "relentless". He singled out US trade policies for undermining European trade interests, demanding maximum concessions, and imposing new tariffs, calling such practices "fundamentally unacceptable". He warned of a global shift "towards autocracy rather than democracy," citing rising violence and the number of wars compared to 2024, noting that some of them "were solved", a reference to Trump's repeated claims of ending "eight" wars. (ANI)
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