The Chinese hoped President Donald Trump’s push for Greenland would help them peel Europe away from America. The Finns were desperate to prevent a trade war over the island. And Iceland was furious over a suggestion that it’s next on Trump’s target list — the “52nd state.”

A batch of State Department cables obtained by POLITICO expose the deep reverberations of the president’s demands for Greenland as foreign officials vented their frustrations this month with American counterparts. The messages, which have not been previously reported, offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the thinking of allies and adversaries about the impact of Trump’s would-be land grab.

They highlight a new point of tension in a transatlantic relationship already strained by Russia’s war in Ukraine, fights over tariffs and U.S. criticism of European policies. And they come just as Trump discusses a framework deal that stops short of allowing the U.S. to own Greenland, but which could expand U.S. military and mining activity in the Danish territory.

The cables — perhaps most critically — underscore how important the U.S. remains to so many countries in Europe, even if Trump’s behavior is pushing that continent’s leaders to the edge.

“Let’s not get a divorce,” Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said, according to one cable, “especially not a messy one.”

A cable from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Jan. 21 suggests the Chinese government is eager to benefit from Trump’s moves against Greenland. The situation “offers China an opportunity to benefit from European hedging” and could “amplify trans-Atlantic frictions,” U.S. diplomats wrote in laying out the thinking in China.

But the cable, which cites media and analysts affiliated with the ruling Chinese Communist Party, also notes that Chinese leadership was aware that a larger U.S. military footprint in Greenland could complicate their goals in the Arctic and “consolidate U.S. military and infrastructure advantages.”

Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu didn’t address the content of the cable directly, but said any Chinese actions were in line with international law. “China’s activities in the Arctic are aimed at promoting the peace, stability and sustainable development of the region,” Liu said.

Another cable, dated Jan. 20 from the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, outlined the concern in the Finland foreign minister’s office over Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on European countries that had sent military advisers to Greenland to plan troop exercises.

Valtonen came across as eager to calm tensions.

She told visiting U.S. lawmakers that the arrival of a few soldiers in Greenland was a “misunderstanding,” according to the cable.

Finland had no plans to do anything “against the Americans” and the officers — “a couple of guys” — were already back in Finland, she said. She downplayed European Union threats to retaliate over the threatened tariffs, calling it a negotiating tactic, and said she’d push the EU to “do anything to prevent a trade war.”

The Finnish government did not respond to a request for comment.

When asked about the cables, the State Department referred to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s testimony on Wednesday to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He noted that talks between the U.S., Denmark and Greenland have started, and “will be a regular process,” though he didn’t offer any detail.

“We’ve got a little bit of work to do, but I think we’re going to wind up in a good place,” he said. “And I think you’ll hear the same from our colleagues in Europe very shortly.”

There was also drama in Iceland after Trump’s nominee for ambassador to that country, Billy Long, joked that Iceland could become the “52nd state” — presumably once Greenland became the 51st — and he would act as governor.

Iceland’s Permanent Secretary of State Martin Eyjólfsson summoned U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Erin Sawyer to demand a high-level U.S. apology and tell her that such talk “has no place in international discourse,” according to a Jan. 23 cable from the U.S. Embassy in Reykjavík to Washington.

Sawyer told him making Iceland a state was not U.S. policy, according to the cable, and pointed out that Long had apologized for the comments. There was no indication Sawyer delivered a high-level apology from the U.S. government as Iceland had requested.

The Icelandic Embassy did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump last week walked back months of threats about taking Greenland by force and launching a trade war against NATO allies over the issue. He and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reached a “framework of a future deal” on Greenland at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump announced.

The proposals Rutte and Trump have discussed include three main elements.

One would allow the U.S. to have full sovereignty over its bases in Greenland, along the lines of Britain’s basing rights in Cyprus, according to a European diplomat and another person familiar with the planning. The U.S. would also be allowed to establish more bases, although Denmark would get a veto over where on the Arctic island, according to the person. They, like others interviewed, were granted anonymity to discuss internal planning.

The framework includes the possibility of integrating Trump’s Golden Dome defense shield into plans for a framework as well as a NATO mission focused on the Arctic. The proposal would also give the U.S. first right of refusal on natural resource extraction projects.

It’s not clear how long it will take to hash out details or bring Greenland and Denmark on board. Both insist that, whatever happens, they will not compromise on sovereignty.

Despite that confident rhetoric, Trump’s threats about Greenland have posed an existential threat for NATO, which rarely sees such intra-alliance feuding.

Rutte has moved fast in search of a compromise. He has used NATO’s machinery to his advantage, capitalizing on Europe’s eagerness to keep the alliance together to lobby allies in favor of stepping up work on Arctic security.

Rutte was “persistent,” one senior NATO diplomat said.

The NATO leader, armed with concrete options he could offer Trump, sought to align national positions. As the crisis escalated, he spent “many days” in calls with national security advisers and leaders, including Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Britain’s Keir Starmer and Trump, according to a person familiar with the calls.

His efforts led to the session in Davos, which Trump described as “very productive,” and appeared to defuse a potential NATO eruption.

But European officials remain worried about the diplomatic situation and uncertain of what Trump seeks.

“What we need right now in NATO is unity,” a European official said, “And what the United States is doing is a huge mistake by raising this Greenland topic.”

Nette Nöstlinger in Berlin contributed to this report.