Canada "stands firmly" with Greenland and Denmark, Prime Minister Mark Carney has said, after US President Donald Trump vowed his plan to take control of the autonomous Danish territory was irreversible.
"Canada stands firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully supports their unique right to determine Greenland's future," Mr Carney told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Mr Carney's address to the world's political and financial elites also touched on themes he has addressed since entering Canadian politics last year, namely that a system of US-led global governance will not return to a pre-Trump normal.
"We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition," Mr Carney said.
Canada was one of the first countries "to hear the wake-up call" that a fundamental change was underway, the prime minister added.
He said Canada had benefitted from an era of "American hegemony" but now had to pivot, with great powers increasingly using their economic power as leverage.
"The middle powers must act together, because if we're not at the table, we're on the menu.
"The question for middle powers, like Canada, is not whether to adapt to this new reality. We must. The question is whether we adapt by simply building higher walls - or whether we can do something more ambitious."
He defined the current era as of "great power rivalry" adding: "great powers can afford for now to go it alone. They have the market size, the military capacity, and the leverage to dictate terms. Middle powers do not."
Mr Carney delivered his Davos speech after Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported that the Canadian military has developed a model response to a US invasion.
Citing two unnamed senior government officials, the paper said the Canadian response model centre s on insurgency-style tactics, like those used in Afghanistan by fighters who resisted Soviet and later US forces.
In an invasion scenario, US forces would likely overtake Canada's strategic position within days, the Globe reported, citing the military model.
Von der Leyen warns US that tariffs would be 'mistake'
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier warned the US that hitting allied European nations with punitive tariffs over Greenland would be a "mistake".
"The proposed additional tariffs are a mistake especially between long-standing allies," she said, in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland.
Ms von der Leyen also vowed that Europe's response to Mr Trump's repeated threats on Greenland and tariffs will be "unflinching".
"Plunging us into a downward spiral would only aid the very adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of the strategic landscape. So our response will be unflinching, united and proportional," Ms von der Leyen said.
The US has said any retaliatory levies would be "unwise".
French president Emmanuel Macron said that France preferred "respect to bullies" and rejected "unacceptable" tariffs, following Mr Trump's threat to impose levies on countries opposing his plans to seize Greenland.
"France and Europe are attached to national sovereignty and independence, to the United Nations and to its charter," he said in Davos, as his US counterpart seeks to take over the Danish autonomous territory, and has invited countries around the world to a new global "Board of Peace".
"We will do our best in order to have a stronger Europe, much stronger and more autonomous," he said, wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses after appearing in public with a bloodshot eye last week.
"Here in the epicentre of this continent, we do believe that we need more growth, we need more stability in this world.
"But we do prefer respect to bullies. And we do prefer rule of law to brutality."
The French leader warned of "a shift towards a world without rules", one "without effective collective governance", leading to "relentless competition".
Mr Macron described "competition from the United States of America through trade agreements that undermine our export interests, demand maximum concessions, and openly aim to weaken and subordinate Europe".
They were "combined with an endless accumulation of new tariffs that are fundamentally unacceptable - even more so when they are used as leverage against territorial sovereignty", he said.
Last week, Mr Macron had appeared on stage with a bloodshot eye for a New Year's address to the military, asking his audience to "please excuse the unsightly look of my eye".
Mr Trump had earlier pressed on with his campaign to seize Greenland on his social media platform Truth Social, posting a fake photo of himself planting a flag in a rock and ice landscape next to a sign reading "GREENLAND - US TERRITORY EST. 2026".
He later wrote he had a "very good" call with NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte over mineral-rich Greenland.
"I agreed to a meeting of the various parties in Davos, Switzerland," he said yesterday.
The US president said he did not think European leaders would "push back too much" on his attempt to buy the vast island, telling reporters: "They can't protect it."
Mr Trump has used the argument that he wants to protect Greenland from perceived Russian and Chinese threats as a key justification for taking over the strategically located territory, although analysts suggest China is a small player in the region.
Rutte's predecessor Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned that the Republican's Greenland gambit had ignited the biggest crisis in NATO's history, and said the time for "flattering" the US leader was over.
"It is the future of NATO and the future of the world order that are at stake," he said.
Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen agreed, telling a press conference in Nuuk that while military force was "unlikely" it could not be ruled out.
"That's why we must be ready for all possibilities, but let's emphasise this: Greenland is part of NATO and, if there were to be an escalation, it would also have consequences for the rest of the world."
Stop trying to appease Trump, Newsom tells Europeans
California Governor Gavin Newsom today urged Europeans to stop playing nice with Mr Trump over Greenland, "develop a backbone" and "punch him in the face".
In blunt remarks to reporters at the World Economic Forum, the prominent Democratic politician called Mr Trump "weak" and said the European Union should "push back very aggressively" against the US leader.
"He's good at exploiting weaknesses, but he backs down when he's punched in the face," Mr Newsom said.
"You can't play all sides. Enough of the niceties," he added. "Stop trying to appease him. Fight fire with fire."
He called Mr Trump's bid to take over Greenland "madness" but said the US president would not try to seize it "militarily".
EU leaders will hold an emergency summit on Greenland in Brussels on Thursday.
Mr Trump also said today that he had agreed to a meeting of various parties at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He did not specify who the various parties were.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would seek to meet the US president at the forum tomorrow.
Mr Macron has instead sent a message to Mr Trump to propose a G7 summit in Paris on Thursday on Greenland, as well as ways to end Russia's war with Ukraine, with Denmark, Russia and Ukraine attending on the sidelines.
The Kremlin said Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev plans to meet members of the US delegation in Davos - the first to head to the mountain resort since Russians were excluded from the gathering following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Watch: 'I'll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes, and he'll join', Trump says of Macron
Mr Trump also said that he will impose a 200% tariff on French wines and champagnes, a move he claimed would push the French president to join Mr Trump's so-called 'Board of Peace' initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts.
When asked by a reporter about Emmanuel Macron saying he will not join the board, Mr Trump said: "Did he say that? Well, nobody wants him because he will be out of office very soon.
"I'll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes, and he'll join, but he doesn't have to join," Mr Trump said.
France intends to decline the invitation to join the initiative, at this stage, a source close to Mr Macron said yesterday.
Mr Trump originally proposed establishing the board of peace when he announced last September his plan to end the war in Gaza. However an invitation sent to world leaders last week outlines a broad role ending conflicts globally.
A draft charter sent to about 60 countries by the US administration calls for members to contribute $1 billion in cash if they want their membership to last more than three years, according to the document seen by Reuters.
Governments reacted cautiously on Sunday to Mr Trump's invitation, a plan that diplomats said could harm the work of the United Nations.
Yesterday, Mr Trump also said he has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to be a member of the peace board. "He's been invited," Mr Trump said.
Read more:
Does Donald Trump's 'Board of Peace' undermine the UN?
Watch: A rewind of Trump's first year back in office
Live: Updates as they happen
Europe won't 'push back too much' on Greenland
Mr Trump has also said that he thought European leaders would not "push back too much" on his attempt to buy Greenland.
"I don't think they're gonna push back too much. We have to have it. They have to have this done," he said yesterday, when asked what Mr Trump planned to say to European leaders who opposed his plans.
Yesterday, he said that the US would talk about acquiring Greenland at the World Economic Forum because Denmark cannot protect the territory.
"They can't protect it, Denmark, they're wonderful people."
