US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 200 percent tariff on French wine and champagne if France does not join his proposed “Board of Peace.” At the same time, he published a personal message he received from French President Emmanuel Macron on his social media platform, Truth Social.
This information was reported by The Economic Times on Tuesday (20 January).
According to the report, Paris mocked Washington’s position on Greenland, particularly Trump’s keen interest in the Arctic territory, which is under Danish control. Following France’s remarks, Trump launched a sharp attack against the country.
Referring to the Board of Peace, Trump said, “I will impose a 200 percent tariff on his (Emmanuel Macron’s) wine and champagne. Then he will join. But even if he doesn’t, it doesn’t matter to me.” Although the idea of the Board was initially presented as a mechanism to oversee the reconstruction of war-ravaged Gaza, its declaration does not limit its role solely to Palestinian territory.
Trump later shared a personal message sent by Macron. In the message, the French president wrote that the two leaders share common ground on the issues of Iran and Syria, but that he does not understand what Trump is doing regarding Greenland.
Macron also proposed holding a meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos with Trump and other G7 leaders. He suggested that representatives from Ukraine, Denmark, Syria, and Russia could also be invited. He even offered to host Trump for a dinner on Thursday.
A source close to Macron said that the structure of the proposed Board is not confined only to Gaza. Meanwhile, France has openly criticized Trump’s stance on Greenland. In response to comments made by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a sarcastic response from its official account on X.
Drawing comparisons, the post said that if a fire might break out someday, firefighters would naturally intervene—so does that mean it would be better to burn the house down in advance? It further joked that sharks might attack someday—so perhaps it would be better to let lifeguards be eaten now. If an accident could happen in the future, then perhaps it would be better to crash the car immediately.
Earlier, defending Trump’s Greenland policy, Bessent said that potential future threats from Russia in the Arctic region are the main cause of Trump’s concern. He stated that conflict over the Arctic is inevitable in the future and that the United States will uphold its NATO commitments. If Russia or any other party were to attack Greenland, he said, the US would inevitably become involved.
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