U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to speak at the Munich Security Conference this weekend, using the occasion to emphasize that transatlantic partners are entering a “new era” in geopolitics and that their relationship is at a defining moment.
His attendance comes amid growing European concerns over the Trump administration’s increasingly confrontational stance toward allies, including renewed pressure regarding Greenland. In January, President Donald Trump threatened escalating tariffs on several European countries linked to demands for U.S. ownership of Greenland, heightening fears about the stability of long-standing alliance assumptions.
The conference marks one of the first major opportunities in 2026 for senior U.S. and European officials to engage in a single high-level forum as tensions over trade, security burdens, and Greenland’s status become more pronounced. Reuters reported that Rubio is expected to deliver a speech on Saturday, following last year’s Munich meeting, which featured unusually sharp U.S. criticism of European partners.
In addition to the public program, Rubio has engaged in diplomacy with major powers on the Munich sidelines, including a closed-door meeting with China’s top diplomat, highlighting how the U.S. is balancing European security issues with broader strategic competition.
Rubio is likely to argue for closer coordination among Western partners, while also indicating that Washington expects Europe to assume more responsibility—a theme that has gained traction as Europeans debate how to mitigate vulnerabilities highlighted by U.S. policy volatility. In Munich, European leaders have openly noted that the old assumptions supporting the post-Cold War order no longer apply, even as they affirm that NATO remains central.
Simultaneously, Europe’s internal disagreements on issues like trade and defense industrial policy complicate attempts to present a cohesive position in response to U.S. pressure—particularly in disputes directly affecting a NATO ally like Denmark and its autonomous territory Greenland.
Rubio’s Munich speech should be seen not as a reaction to a singular historical “Greenland purchase idea,” but as part of a broader 2026 context: renewed U.S. pressure and unpredictability regarding trade and alliance issues, alongside intensifying great-power rivalry. The Munich forum will test whether Washington and Europe can stabilize cooperation while recalibrating expectations in a rapidly changing security environment.
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