Allies at Davos Warn Rules‑Based Order Is 'Fading' Amid Trump Greenland, Tariff Threats

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron used keynote speeches to warn that the post‑World War II rules‑based order is breaking down as great powers weaponize trade, finance and supply chains, leaving mid‑sized democracies more exposed. Their remarks came after weeks of provocative statements by President Donald Trump about possibly using military force to seize Greenland and imposing new tariffs on eight European countries, moves that have rattled markets and forced allies to question the reliability of U.S. security guarantees. Carney told delegates "we are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition" and said economic integration is being turned into a coercive tool, while Macron described a "world without rules" where international law is trampled and only the law of the strongest prevails, in comments many in the room heard as aimed at Washington as well as Moscow and Beijing. When Trump took the stage a day later, he rejected that narrative, arguing that raw U.S. military and economic power, not verbal reassurances, are what keep alliances strong and insisting he wants a "strong" Europe even as he threatens new trade penalties. The unusually public divergence at Davos underscores how Trump’s Greenland ambitions, tariff brinkmanship and Gaza policy are deepening allied doubts about U.S. leadership at the very moment Western governments face rising authoritarian rivals and a fraying global security architecture.