Macron told allies “there is no going back,” WSJ reports

European nations quietly reduce reliance on US technology and defense systems

The Wall Street Journal investigation, based on interviews with nearly 30 leaders and their senior aides and on detailed notes and intelligence reports reviewed by the newspaper, provides the most comprehensive account yet of how the Western alliance has faced strain under Trump’s policies and threats.

The emergency meeting took place at the European Council headquarters in late January. Leaders were told to come alone, without phones, and to speak candidly. Macron opened the session by saying, “We are drawing a line here,” according to several leaders present and their most senior aides. “There is no going back.”

The meeting was triggered by Trump’s push to acquire Greenland from Denmark, which the president intensified after removing Venezuela’s authoritarian leader. European leaders described the moment as a rupture in the post-World War II alliance, a term the Journal used to describe the depth of the fracture.

The Journal’s reporting also detailed Trump’s pressure on Canada. In private phone calls with Trudeau, Trump threatened to scrap the 1908 treaty delineating the U.S.-Canada border, according to two people familiar with the matter. “I tear that up and your whole country unravels,” the president told Trudeau, the people said.

During a dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Trudeau’s envoys tried to dissuade Trump from absorbing Canada. When a Trump aide noted that Canada’s 41 million people would lean toward the Democratic Party, the president proposed splitting the country into two states. Many Americans dismissed the comments as shtick, the Journal reported, but Canadian intelligence assessments treated them with gravity.

Within months, Mark Carney swept to power as prime minister on a nationalist backlash to Trump’s remarks. After taking office in early 2025, Carney commissioned a sensitive review of Canada’s dependence on the U.S. for data storage, military hardware, payments processing, and even food, the Journal reported. In conversations with European leaders, he argued that they must begin building up their own defense and technology infrastructure.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has focused on maintaining U.S. commitment to the alliance by promising higher defense spending and continued weapons purchases, according to the Journal. He has pledged that European countries will spend 5% of GDP on defense as part of his effort to keep the U.S. engaged, the newspaper reported.

The investigation documented specific steps European nations are taking to reduce their reliance on American systems. They are launching their own satellites to avoid using Elon Musk’s Starlink network. Alongside Canada, they are developing independent AI platforms and quantum computing systems. They are prioritizing investments in European space, AI, and data infrastructure to maintain what officials described as operational sovereignty.

The primary question facing European leaders, the Journal reported, is whether Trump’s antagonism is a temporary anomaly or a permanent shift in U.S. foreign policy. Increasingly, they are spending taxpayer money on the assumption that it is permanent. Many leaders and officials now view autonomy as a long-term necessity rather than a temporary measure, according to the newspaper. There is a consensus among key European and Canadian figures that even if U.S. leadership changes, the era of relying so heavily on American-led systems for essential security and data has ended.