If the Old Continent does not want to be “devoured” by the American president, who wants to seize Greenland, it has only one choice, according to Gavin Newsom: “fight fire with fire,” he declared on the sidelines of the Davos Forum.
Europe is in the process of “to be rolled” by Donald Trump. This is the blunt message delivered on Tuesday by California Governor Gavin Newsom to several journalists on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. While the American president threatens additional customs duties on European countries that oppose his plan to acquire Greenland, this democratic figure, a great opponent of Donald Trump, castigated the naivety of the Old Continent: “Do diplomacy with Donald Trump? He’s a T-Rex, you either play his game or he eats you. It’s either one or the other.”he said.
Resolutely herbivorous in a carnivorous world, does Europe have the means to respond to Donald Trump’s attacks on international law? Gavin Newsom doesn’t beat around the bush. “Hit him in the face” to push it back, he urges the European Union. “This whole Greenland thing is absurd, and it is time for everyone to become aware of the situation, to be firm and determined, to assert themselves and to speak with one voice. Hit him in the face”he insisted.
Skip the ad
“Enough politeness!”
According to the Democratic governor, Donald Trump is far from being as invulnerable as he claims. “He is a master at exploiting weaknesses, but he backs down when someone hits him in the face”he still asserts. “We cannot spare the goat and the cabbage. Enough politeness!” he believes, before driving the point home: “Stop trying to appease him. Fight fire with fire.” While qualifying “madness” the desire of the American president to seize Greenland, Gavin Newsom believes that Donald Trump will not attempt to conquer “militarily” this autonomous Danish island.
The American president, who is due to speak on Wednesday at the annual meeting of world elites in Davos, is putting the Europeans and NATO to the test by seeking to seize this immense territory of the North Atlantic. Are the calls for action launched by the governor of California just wishful thinking? In Davos, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, promised a response this Tuesday “firm, united and proportionate”. The European Parliament, for its part, announced the suspension of the ratification process of the trade agreement concluded in the summer of 2025 between Brussels and Washington. Other weapons remain at the disposal of the EU, such as the “anti-coercion instrument”, which Emmanuel Macron calls for activation, or the package of customs countermeasures, prepared by the Twenty-Seven in July 2025 then frozen, which Brussels could draw again.
