French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly told European leaders earlier this year that France was prepared to defend Greenland against potential U.S. action, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal detailing private discussions among European officials.
The report describes an extraordinary closed-door meeting in Brussels held just weeks into President Donald Trump’s second term, as European leaders grappled with what they viewed as a rapidly changing relationship with Washington.
According to the newspaper, the emergency summit came after U.S. forces carried out a precision operation in Venezuela that resulted in the arrest of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Around the same time, Trump had renewed his public interest in acquiring Greenland, the autonomous Danish territory that occupies a strategically important position in the Arctic and North Atlantic.
Those developments reportedly prompted an unusually candid discussion among European leaders about how they would respond if tensions with the United States escalated.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the meeting stretched late into the night, with nearly 30 heads of government gathered inside the European Council headquarters in Brussels. With phones and recording devices prohibited, participants reportedly spoke openly about Europe’s dependence on the United States and the possibility of a long-term strategic break.
According to the report, some attendees later referred to the session as “therapy night” because of the emotional tone of the discussion.
It was during that meeting, the newspaper reported, that Macron declared, “We are drawing a line here.”
The Journal went on to report that French troops had been deployed to Greenland alongside Danish special forces as part of preparations for what officials viewed as a potential crisis.
“Now, French soldiers were in Greenland, alongside Danish special forces equipped for a shooting war with America,” the newspaper wrote.
According to the report, Macron used the moment to reinforce an argument he has made repeatedly over the past several years—that Europe has become too dependent on the United States for its security.
“There is no going back,” Macron reportedly told the gathering.
The report portrays a broader shift in how many European leaders view the transatlantic alliance.
For decades, European governments largely relied on the United States as NATO’s dominant military power and principal security guarantor. The Journal reported that several leaders at the meeting argued the Trump administration was approaching the alliance differently, pressing European partners for greater burden-sharing and more reciprocal arrangements rather than continuing longstanding policies without significant changes.
The newspaper also reported that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, though not present at the meeting, remained in regular contact with several European leaders.
According to the Journal, Carney used a British telephone number dating back to his years in London while encouraging European governments to prepare for a future in which America’s traditional foreign policy might not return.
“He had been regularly messaging Europe’s major leaders using a British phone number from his time in London, trying to persuade them that ‘the old America isn’t coming back,'” the newspaper reported.
The discussions reportedly have extended beyond military planning.
According to The Wall Street Journal, governments across Europe have begun reducing their reliance on American technology companies by replacing some U.S.-based software with European alternatives and investing more heavily in domestic artificial intelligence, cloud computing, data centers, and space companies.
The newspaper reported that officials in countries including France and the Netherlands have quietly begun removing some American technology from government systems while encouraging greater use of European-developed software.
