French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed holding talks in Paris on Thursday involving the G7 nations, Russia, and Denmark amid mounting tensions over Greenland, U.S. President Donald Trump has said.
Trump said the proposal was set out in private text messages exchanged between the two leaders, which he shared on his Truth Social platform early on Tuesday. The Élysée Palace confirmed the authenticity of the messages to dpa.
In the messages posted on Truth Social, Macron raises Trump’s demands that the United States acquire Greenland from Denmark, writing, “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland.”
Trump has argued that U.S. control of the world’s largest island is necessary for American and global security. His European NATO allies, including Denmark, firmly oppose the idea.
Trump is due to be in Europe for the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he is scheduled to speak on Wednesday.
Macron, as the current chair of the Group of Seven industrialised nations, proposed convening a meeting of the G7 powers alongside Denmark, Russia, Ukraine, and Syria on Thursday afternoon in Paris. He then invited Trump to join him for dinner that evening. The G7 comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Russia was a member of the group between 1998 and 2014, when it was known as the G8, but was excluded following the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
In his message to Trump, Macron also highlighted areas of cooperation between France and the United States. He wrote, “We are totally in line in Syria. We can do great things in Iran.”
In Syria, France is working with the U.S. to promote unity and territorial integrity, ensure compliance with the ceasefire, and support allies in the fight against the Islamic State terrorist militia. Iran, meanwhile, has been shaken this year by nationwide protests, with France calling on Iranian authorities to respect fundamental freedoms.
Despite these shared priorities, the coming days are expected to be dominated by diplomatic manoeuvring over Greenland rather than the Middle East.
Trump has said that “a meeting of the various parties” on his Greenland bid would take place in Davos, adding that he discussed the matter in a phone call with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
In another apparently private message posted by Trump on Truth Social early on Tuesday, Rutte wrote that he was “committed to finding a way forward on Greenland.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that he expects to meet Trump in Davos to discuss the dispute. Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
With a population of just under 57,000, Greenland has repeatedly stated that it does not wish to become part of the United States. NATO allies have also argued that U.S. control is not necessary to ensure security in the Arctic region.
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