From Greenland to Ukraine, Trump's centralized diplomacy creates whiplash for allies


U.S. President Donald Trump speaks prior to a bilateral meeting with Switzerland's Federal President Guy Parmelin, Switzerland's Economy Minister Federal councillor Karin Keller-Sutter and Switzerland's Foreign Minister Federal councillor Ignazio Cassis, in Congress Centre, on the sideline of the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, January 21, 2026. Laurent Gillieron/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - When officials from the United States, Denmark and Greenland met last ‌month in the Arctic island's capital, the session was reassuringly normal, with no discussion of a U.S. military or financial takeover of the Danish territory, multiple people familiar with the talks told Reuters.

That all changed less than two weeks later when ‌Trump announced a special envoy to the vast island, Jeff Landry, who posted on social media that he would help "make Greenland part of the U.S." The appointment and the message stunned Copenhagen and blindsided senior U.S. officials across ‌the administration who work on European and NATO issues, the sources said.

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