Donald Trump: “If I hadn't come, NATO wouldn't have existed.” The American leader says that without him the Alliance would have “fallen into the oblivion of history”

US President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday that “no person, or no president, has done more for NATO” than he has done, in a new message on social media addressed to member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, some of which he threatened with customs duties if they oppose his plans to annex the Arctic island of Greenland, AFP and EFE agencies report, according to Agerpres.

“No person, or no president, has done more for NATO than President Donald J. Trump. If I hadn't come, NATO would not exist today! It would have fallen into the oblivion of history. Sad, but true!” he wrote in a short message on his social network Truth Social, as transatlantic relations go through an unusually tense moment following his plans for the US to take control of Greenland.

Faced with these intentions of Trump to buy or – if Denmark maintains its refusal to sell – to annex by force this strategically important island rich in mineral resources, including rare earths, a number of European states, including Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland, have expressed their “full solidarity” with Denmark and some have sent symbolic military contingents to Greenland that amount to only a few dozen soldiers.

Trump on Saturday threatened these countries with 10% tariffs from February 1, which would rise to 25% from June 1, causing a crisis in transatlantic relations. Following this threat, Germany withdrew its 15 soldiers sent to Greenland on Sunday. Norway and the Netherlands, which each sent two soldiers to the Arctic island, also announced that they would be withdrawn.

But some European officials in turn threaten the USA with commercial retaliation, such as the anti-coercion tool, or “commercial bazooka”, a mechanism that would allow the European Commission to impose restrictions on imports and exports to the United States, on American investments in the EU, to restrict the intellectual property rights of American companies or to prohibit them from participating in public tenders.