The strategy Europe used to save Greenland from Trump

People bear Greenlandic flags as they march to protest against President Donald Trump and his announced intent to acquire Greenland on January 17, 2026 in Nuuk, Greenland. | Sean Gallup/Getty Images

And just like, the Greenland crisis seems to have been defused.

It was a crisis of President Donald Trump’s own making. After broaching the idea of the United States taking Greenland a year ago, Trump ramped up his rhetoric in recent weeks, culminating with the threat of tariffs against Europe and the specter of military action and the dissolution of NATO if the US didn’t get what it wanted.

But this week, after speaking before world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump announced that he and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had reached a framework of a deal over Greenland’s future — one that did not include US ownership of the island.

The announcement was widely seen as a comedown for Trump. So why did he back down?

To answer the question, Today, Explained co-host Noel King spoke with Henry Farrell, a professor of international affairs at Johns Hopkins University. Farrell recently wrote an op-ed for the New York Times titled “Europe Has a Bazooka. Time to Use It.” In the piece, he argues that Europe had been too timid in pushing back against Trump’s threats, and that it needed a more forceful posture, one grounded in “deterrence theory.” According to reports, that’s what Europe’s leaders showed at Davos this week — and it may well explain Trump’s retreat on Greenland.

Below is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. There’s much more in the full episode, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.

It’s been roughly 80 years since the last World War, which means we’ve been doing something right, all of us. How do big powers deter........

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