- French President Macron criticizes Trump's foreign policy as bullying at Davos.
- He urges the G7 to cooperate with the BRICS bloc instead of confronting it.
- Trump's threats over Greenland and tariffs are pushing allies toward new alliances.
- BRICS nations demonstrate growing cohesion with joint naval exercises.
- The conflict forces even Canada to theoretically plan for a U.S. invasion.
The global order is cracking, and the world’s leaders are scrambling to pick sides. At the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a blistering critique of U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive foreign policy while unveiling a surprising diplomatic pivot. As France assumes the rotating presidency of the G7, Macron stated the group should seek closer cooperation with the BRICS bloc, a direct response to what he framed as American bullying over territorial ambitions in Greenland.
Macron’s speech was a forceful rejection of Trump’s tactics. The U.S. president has threatened escalating tariffs on European goods, including a 200% levy on French wines and champagne, to pressure allies into accepting his bid to acquire Greenland from Denmark. "We do prefer respect to bullies," Macron said. "And we do prefer rule of law to brutality." He condemned a shift toward a world where "the only law that seems to matter is that of the strongest, and imperial ambitions are resurfacing."
The French president’s stance moved beyond rhetoric to propose a new strategic direction. He argued the G7, which includes the United States, Canada, Japan, and major European powers, must not become an "anti-China club or anti-BRICS club." Instead, he advocated for building bridges with the ten-member BRICS coalition, which represents over a quarter of the global economy and includes China, Russia, India, Brazil, and South Africa, among others.
BRICS flexes military muscle
This call for outreach coincides with a dramatic display of BRICS cohesion as joint naval exercises dubbed "Will for Peace 2026" were recently carried out off the coast of South Africa. Warships from China, Russia, Iran, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates conducted drills, described by a South African commander as "a statement of intent" and essential for safeguarding trade routes. The exercises signal a growing willingness among these nations to coordinate militarily, even as foundational BRICS members India and Brazil opted only to observe, wary of alienating Washington.
Trump’s actions have provided a catalyst for this realignment. Beyond the Greenland controversy, he has accused BRICS members of "anti-American" policies, imposed punishing tariffs on countries like India and South Africa, and threatened the bloc collectively. After a BRICS summit last July, Trump declared, "if they ever really form in a meaningful way, it will end very quickly." Yet economists note that BRICS nations have been accelerating work on dedollarization initiatives, including alternative payment systems that could reduce dependence on the dollar-based financial architecture.
Canada and Europe brace for impact
The tension has forced even America's closest neighbors to contemplate once-unthinkable scenarios. Canadian media reported this week that the country’s military has drafted a theoretical model for an insurgency-style response to a hypothetical U.S. invasion, a contingency not seriously considered in a century. The model was reportedly prompted by Trump’s repeated suggestions that Canada should be part of the U.S. and his campaign for Greenland.
European leaders are rallying behind Macron’s defiant tone. An emergency EU summit has been called for Thursday to respond to Trump’s tariff threats over Greenland. Macron urged the bloc to consider deploying its new "Anti-Coercion Instrument," a powerful trade tool, arguing that accepting Trump’s demands would lead to Europe’s "vassalization."
The personal diplomatic rift was laid bare when Trump publicly posted a private text message exchange with Macron. In the messages, Macron questioned Trump’s focus on Greenland and offered to organize a G7 meeting. The French leader confirmed he has no plans to meet Trump in Davos, stating, "I don't have to change my schedule."
This fracture represents more than a policy dispute; it is a battle over the foundational principles of the post-World War II order. Macron positioned Europe as the defender of a rules-based system against what he termed Trump’s "new colonialism." His push for G7-BRICS dialogue is an attempt to forge a new center of gravity in a fragmenting world, one that can operate outside of Washington’s escalating demands.
As warships drill in the South Atlantic and tariffs are threatened over Arctic ice, a new map of global alliances is being drawn. Macron’s Davos manifesto suggests the future may not be a clean division between East and West, but a messy scramble where economic blocs and security partnerships blur, and long-standing allies are forced to plan for the possibility of becoming adversaries.
The irony of Trump's approach is that it may accelerate the very outcome he seeks to prevent. While dedollarization was once a distant aspiration, Trump's weaponization of tariffs and threats is providing the political will to make it reality. Each ultimatum drives the bloc closer together, transforming what was primarily an economic partnership into something with genuine geopolitical teeth. If Trump's goal is to preserve American financial hegemony, his strategy of confrontation over cooperation may prove to be the catalyst for its unraveling.
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