Trump aide defends Greenland takeover — France fires back with brutal one-liners: ‘Better burn the house now’

France on Monday fired back at the Donald Trump administration's justification to acquire Greenland with a series of brutal and savage one-liners, with the replies now going viral.

In a post on early Monday, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs issued a sharp and sarcastic rebuttal to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's statement justifying why his country wanted to acquire Greenland. The French MFA drew parallel with situations where deliberately causing harm would be the solution to a future problem.

“If there were a fire someday, firefighters would intervene — so better burn the house now. If a shark might attack someday, intervention would follow — so better eat the lifeguard now. If there were a crash someday, damage would occur — so better ram the car now,” the French foreign ministry posted on X, sharing a video with Bessent's justification.

Speaking at NBC's “Meet the Press” programme, Bessent on Sunday justified Trump's move to push for control of Greenland.

“If there were an attack on Greenland from Russia, from some other area, we would get dragged in — so better now. Peace through Strength... Europeans project weakness. The US projects strength,” the top White House official said in an interview with NBC.

EU governments are drawing up retaliatory measures, including possibly hitting the US with 93 billion euros' worth of tariffs or the so far unused "Anti-Coercion Instrument", which permits investment restrictions and curbs the export of services such as those provided by US digital giants.

The ACI, which was finally approved in 2023, is seen by many as a “nuclear option” that is ideally meant as a deterrent.

The ACI allows the 27-nation EU to retaliate against third countries that put economic pressure on its member countries to force a policy shift, and offers far wider scope for action than just counter-tariffs on US exports.

The ACI has a 10-point list of possible measures on goods and services.

European Union Chief Ursula von der Leyen on Monday (local time) held a meeting with a bipartisan delegation from the United States Congress in Davos, where they discussed Donald Trump's recent threats to acquire Greenland.

In a post on X, Ursula von der Leyen emphasised the need to "respect" the sovereignty of Greenland and Denmark.

"I also addressed the need to unequivocally respect the sovereignty of Greenland and of the Kingdom of Denmark. This is of utmost importance to our transatlantic relationship," she said.

She further urged for a "close cooperation" between the EU, the US and NATO to address the security concerns related to Greenland and the Arctic.