Relations between the United States and its European allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have deteriorated considerably during Donald Trump's second presidency, with strong disagreements over everything from the Iran war to tariffs to Greenland. Trump's push for U.S. annexation of Greenland, a Danish colony, drew vehement criticism from European NATO countries. But Andrew Puzder, Trump's ambassador to the European Union (EU), is claiming that the U.S. president's remarks were misinterpreted.

At the 2026 Brussels Economic Security Forum in Belgium, Puzder told attendees, "It got interpreted that we were somehow threatening Greenland's territorial integrity…. (but) the president never said we were going to invade."

In early March, Trump argued that acquiring Greenland was essential to the U.S. from a national security standpoint and said that the U.S. will take the Arctic island "one way or another."

Politico reporters Jonas Loesel and Koen Verhelst note, "During his second term in office, Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of annexing Greenland, without excluding the use of military force, which caused consternation in Europe. Puzder said the president's statements were useful to bring attention to Greenland's strategic importance, but should not have been taken seriously."

Loesel and Verhelst add, "The ambassador's comments came just a day after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee that the Arctic island is part of Denmark — 'for now.' Trump eventually ruled out a military invasion of Greenland in January, setting up talks between the U.S. and Denmark on increasing the American military presence on the Arctic island."

At the 2026 Brussels Economic Security Forum, Puzder — who worked as a restaurateur in the past — made a cappuccino analogy while discussing Trump's comments on Greenland. Puzder hoped to convince Europeans that they were overreacting.

Trump's ambassador to the EU told attendees, "You get a cappuccino, you get it for the coffee — you don't get it for the froth. So, let's focus on the coffee and not on the froth. And a lot of this is the froth."

But EU and NATO officials took Trump's comments on Greenland earlier this year quite seriously.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that if the U.S. tried to take Greenland by force, it would trigger the end of NATO — a warning that European Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius echoed in January, telling Reuters, "I agree with the Danish prime minister that it will be the end of NATO, but also, among people, it will be also very, very negative."

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