France issued a stern warning to President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, urging him to back off from his threats regarding the European Union’s “sovereign borders,” just a day after Trump declined to rule out using military force to take over Greenland. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot made the comments in an interview with public radio broadcaster France Inter, stating, “There is no question of the EU letting other nations in the world—whoever they might be—attack its sovereign borders.” Barrot further emphasized that while he doesn’t anticipate Trump will “invade” the Danish territory, he acknowledged a troubling trend, noting that the world is witnessing a “return of the law of the strongest.”
Leaders from both Greenland and Denmark have firmly rejected Trump’s persistent suggestion that the territory, which he has claimed is crucial for U.S. “economic security,” should be transferred to the U.S. They have consistently stated that Greenland is not for sale, nor are they interested in joining the United States. When asked during a press briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Tuesday whether he would commit to refraining from military action to seize either Greenland or the Panama Canal, Trump responded, “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two, but I can say this, we need them for economic security.”
Trump has also continued to express interest in the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state, despite Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissing the notion outright on Tuesday, declaring that there is “not a snowball’s chance in hell” of such a thing happening.

Read more at France Inter.