The US and Europe: A history of being at odds

The dispute between the United States and Europe over the future of Greenland isn’t the first time the allies have been at loggerheads.

Deep disagreements have flared up from time to time since World War II, bringing trans-Atlantic diplomatic crises.

Here’s a look at some of them.

Suez crisis

When France, the United Kingdom and Israel invaded Egypt in 1956, aiming to topple Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and take back control of the Suez Canal, the US employed heavy diplomatic and economic pressure to stop it.

The US intervention severely strained Washington’s relations with London and Paris, which were key allies during the Cold War, and was a milestone in Europe’s waning postwar influence.

Vietnam War

While European countries except France gave diplomatic backing to the US, they refused to provide troops.

Street protests in Europe against the war had a significant political cost for the continent’s governments, which had to reconcile their support for the US with an erosion of their domestic popularity, and were a burden on trans-Atlantic relations.

Euromissile crisis

Russia’s deployment of its new SS-20 missiles that could quickly hit targets in Western Europe compelled NATO to install US Pershing nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles and cruise missiles in Europe in order to maintain the balance of the nuclear arms threat.

The move ignited an uproar on the continent, where fears of a new arms race deepened. Huge anti-nuclear peace demonstrations, with protesters often aiming their ire at Washington, filled the streets of European capitals in the 1980s.

Invasion of Iraq

The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 sparked a major crisis in relations with Europe, especially France and Germany after they refused to support the attack on President Saddam Hussein’s government.

Washington officials rebuked Paris and Berlin, with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld referring to them as “Old Europe” and praising Eastern European countries as “New Europe.”

Extraordinary rendition

As part of its “war on terror,” the United States captured and sometimes kidnapped suspects, and then transferred them to locations in countries where they were interrogated and often tortured outside the reach of US law.

While some European governments were complicit in the programme, a public outcry forced political leaders to denounce the practice.

War in Ukraine

When US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, he upended three years of American policy toward Russia’s attack of Ukraine.

Trump spoke warmly of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was cold toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and then significantly reduced US military aid for Kyiv.

Alarmed European leaders, who see their own security at stake in Ukraine, have pressed Trump to be on Ukraine’s side.

National security strategy

The Trump administration set out a new national security strategy last December that portrayed European allies as weak.

It was scathing of their migration and free speech policies, suggested they face the “prospect of civilisational erasure” and cast doubt on their long-term reliability as American partners.

Trade tariffs

With relations between the US and Europe deteriorating, Trump threatened the continent last July with heavy trade tariffs in what was seen as a deeply hostile move.

Trump initially announced tariffs of 30% on the 27-nation European Union, which is the biggest trading partner of the United States. Both sides later agreed to a trade framework setting a 15% tariff on most goods.