(Bloomberg) — US President Donald Trump took a swipe at French leader Emmanuel Macron for rejecting an invitation to back his latest peace initiative and suggested he could impose a crushing tariff on champagne in retaliation.
“Nobody wants him because he’s going to be out of office very soon,” Trump told reporters Monday local time, after being informed Macron would decline his invitation. “I’ll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes and he’ll join,” he added.
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The president also published a text message from his French counterpart in which Macron invited Trump to have dinner in Paris on Thursday. Macron also proposed meetings with Ukraine, Syria, Denmark and Russia to address a range of issues, including Trump’s demand to take Greenland from Denmark, citing security issues.
“I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland,” Macron told Trump in the text, which was confirmed by a French official.
As he heads to the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, Trump is stoking a series of disputes with European leaders. He’s threatened eight European countries with tariffs for opposing his Greenland demands, attacked Norway for denying him the Nobel Peace Prize (which is not awarded by the Norwegian government) and now he’s trying to force France to join his so-called Board of Peace alongside autocrats such as Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus and even Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Initially conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza, the mandate of the so-called Board of Peace is mushrooming and Trump appears to see it as a vehicle to resolve other conflicts and shape other international events, according to several European officials.
According to a draft charter for the proposed group seen by Bloomberg, Trump would serve as its inaugural chairman and would have authority over membership decisions. The Trump administration is asking countries that want a permanent spot on the body to contribute at least $1 billion.
Macron doesn’t plan to accept, a person close to the French leader said earlier. Macron believes the charter goes beyond Gaza, the person said, and he’s concerned that it could potentially undermine the United Nations, which France considers non-negotiable.
The person said that Macron believes it’s unacceptable for Trump to seek to influence French foreign policy by making threats and he’s determined not to back down. China has also been invited.
The fear for the Europeans is that the disputes over Greenland, over trade, and over the peace board are part of a broader breakdown in the transatlantic relationship, which could call into question US commitment to European security and the NATO military alliance.
NATO chief Mark Rutte has been laser focused on keeping Trump engaged with the alliance since he took over as secretary general in 2024, often adopting a tone of extreme deferrence to the US leader. In a flurry of late night posts, Trump also published a text in which Rutte lauded the success of a US strike on suspected Islamic State militants in Syria.
“What you achieved in Syria today is incredible,” Rutte said in the text, which was confirmed by a NATO official. “I will use my media engagements in Davos to highlight your work there, in Gaza, and in Ukraine.”
Trump also revealed private texts from Rutte ahead of the NATO summit last year and Rutte chose to brush it off.
In a further provocation to Washington’s traditional allies, Trump criticized UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plans to return sovereignty of Diego Garcia — an island that houses a crucial military base — to Mauritius, reversing his previous support for the proposal.
“Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island,” Trump said. “There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness.”
Trump also published what appeared to be an AI mock-up that showed the president speaking to European leaders in the Oval Office in front of a map that showed not just Greenland but also Canada as US territory.
Trump caused consternation in Canada last year when he floated the idea that the country could become the 51st US state, and idea that was categorically rejected by Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Carney is another world leader who’s set to snub Trump’s Board of Peace, according to people familiar with his thinking. The UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany are also set to decline Trump’s invitation to take part, the people said.
Trump wants the full constitution and remit of the Board of Peace signed in Davos on Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter. But other invitees are also skeptical.
Those European countries avoiding the Board of Peace have also been targeted by Trump for offering their support to Denmark as the president ramps up the pressure over Greenland.
European Union leaders are due to hold an emergency summit this week to discuss their response. The bloc is ready to impose tariffs on €93 billion ($108 billion) of US goods if Trump follows through on his threat to hit European countries with a 10% levy on Feb. 1 and Macron is pushing for EU to activate the so-called Anti-Coercion Instrument, a powerful tool which gives officials sweeping powers to curb access to the EU market.
–With assistance from Alan Katz and Jenni Marsh.
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