Nato chief tells Europe to ‘carry on dreaming’ if it thinks it may possibly defend itself with out the US amid fears Trump may take America out of the alliance

NATO chief Mark Rutte today warned Europe that it cannot defend itself without the United States. 

‘If anyone thinks here again, that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US – keep on dreaming. You can’t,’ Rutte told lawmakers at the European Parliament.

Rutte’s comments came amid calls for the continent to stand on its own feet after tensions over Greenland. 

The self-ruling territory is part of EU-member Denmark, which is also a part of the NATO alliance. 

But US president Donald Trump has made aggressive moves to put Greenland into America’s hands, threatening to upend global order if he didn’t get his way.

He threatened to place a massive 25% tariff on EU goods unless Denmark agreed to hand Greenland over to the US.  

And earlier this month, he told the New York Times that ‘it may be a choice’ for the US between annexing Greenland and keeping NATO intact. 

Asked why he actually wanted the territory, he said: ‘Because that’s what I feel is psychologically needed for success. 

The comments came amid calls for the continent to stand on its own feet after tensions over Greenland (Pictured, F-35 Lightning II fighter jets flying over Belgium)

US president Donald Trump (pictured) has made aggressive moves to put Greenland into America’s hands

NATO chief Mark Rutte (pictured) today warned Europe that it cannot defend itself without the United States

‘I think that ownership gives you a thing that you can’t do with, you’re talking about a lease or a treaty. Ownership gives you things and elements that you can’t get from just signing a document.’

Trump later backed down from his tariff threat, claiming last week that the United States can do ‘exactly what we want to do’ in Greenland as part of a new deal with NATO that grants America total and permanent access to the semi-autonomous territory. 

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen last Thursday praised Europe for ‘being firm’ against the US President, who backtracked on his tariff threats amid fears of retaliatory ‘trade bazooka’ from his allies.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his return from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said a new deal was ⁠being negotiated that would be ‘much more generous to the United States, so much more generous’.

Details of any agreement were unclear and Denmark insisted its sovereignty over the island was not up for discussion. 

He skirted questions on sovereignty, but said: ‘We have to have the ability to do exactly what we want to do.’ 

Though Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed Trump’s reversal of his stance, he said he was still in the dark on many aspects.

‘I don’t know what there is ​in the agreement, or the deal, about my country,’ he told reporters in the capital Nuuk.

Military ships patrol the Fjords of the capital Nuuk, Greenland, January 22, 2026

A man walks near a sign that reads: ‘Greenland Is Not For Sale!’ on January 21, 2026 in Nuuk, Greenland, January 21, 2026

‘We are ready to discuss a lot ​of things and we are ready to negotiate a better partnership and so on. But sovereignty is a red line,’ he said, when asked about reports that Trump was seeking control of areas around US military bases in Greenland as part of a wider deal.

‘We cannot cross the red lines. We have to respect our territorial integrity. We have to respect international law and sovereignty.’

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc’s ​US relations had ‘taken a big blow’ in the past few weeks. 

Last month, Denmark’s intelligence services classified the US as a security threat in December for the first time in its history. 

In mid-December, the Danish Defence Intelligence Service warned that the US is increasingly prioritising its own interests and ‘using its economic and technological strength as a tool of power’ against foes and allies alike. 

In a thinly veiled reference to the Greenland crisis, it wrote: ‘The United States uses economic power, including in the form of threats of high tariffs, to enforce its will and no longer excludes the use of military force, even against allies.’