Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered some avuncular counsel to Western allies at Davos, weary of being belittled and trolled by President Donald Trump and his advisers: “Sit back, take a deep breath, do not retaliate,” he urged. And on the whole, the leaders of Washington’s allies heeded their warning, even as they struggled to contain their outrage over Trump’s threats to invade Greenland. For Gavin Newsom, the Trump-bashing California governor who was also at Davos, it was all too much.
The world leaders in attendance were “pathetic,” he said. I should have brought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders.” Since then, however, things have moved on — especially for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron, who have both been giving as good as they get in recent weeks. Amid rising trade tensions and differences with the White House over Russia, they haven’t hesitated to escalate when attacked, sometimes even taunting Trump without immediate provocation.
Carney and Macron have become the “leaders of the resistance,” said Rohinton Medhora, the Canadian economist and professor at McGill University who has dubbed Carney’s evolving political vision as “value-based realism.” Medhora, who sits on various international and Canadian commissions, said: “They’ve tried flattery. They’ve tried ignoring him. Nothing’s worked, and they are not losing out now with their retaliatory trolling.” Carney may have lectured the Trump administration “to stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough,” but that hasn’t stopped him from offering public mockery of his own.
The Canadian prime minister’s freewheeling swipes have included teasing Trump for claiming “sabotage” after his teleprompter malfunctioned during an address to the United Nations last year. Experiencing a similar technical hiccup in Toronto, Carney deadpanned: “I would now like to inform you that the teleprompter has ceased to function. Unlike a certain world leader, I do not view this as a conspiracy.” And in Ottawa, Carney drew both applause and laughter by mimicking Trump’s signature “accordion” hand gestures.
And are there any risks to poking the bear? According to former White House strategist and current MAGA influencer and podcaster Steve Bannon, there is. Bannon also cited the deal Trump recently struck with Denmark and Greenland as an example of U.S. power and Washington’s ability to get what it wants.
But Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, draws a different lesson from the Greenland deal, which extends an earlier agreement dating from 1951 and does not give Trump control of the island, as he said he wanted. For Daalder, this deal shows that when allies stand their ground, the U.S. president backs down. By doing so, they have as good a chance as any in getting what they want.” It’s also not surprising that Macron was quicker to taunt Trump than other Western leaders, said Daalder.
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