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Donald Trump has pledged to follow through “100%” on his threat to impose tariffs on European countries that oppose his demand to take control of Greenland.
European allies have rallied behind the sovereignty of Greenland. The Danish Foreign Minister stressed that the US president could not threaten his access to ownership of the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper reiterated the UK’s position that Greenland’s future is for “the Greenlanders and Danes alone” to decide.
On Monday, Trump refused to rule out the use of force and insisted he would continue threats of tariffs on goods arriving in the United States from the United Kingdom and seven other NATO allies.
Asked by NBC News if he would use force to seize Greenland, Trump replied: “No comment.”
The US president said he would impose 10% tariffs on Britain “on all goods” sent to the United States from February 1, rising to 25% from June 1, until a deal is reached for Washington to buy Greenland from Denmark.
Trump said the same would apply to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, all of which are members of the NATO defense alliance founded in 1949.
Asked if he would follow through on the tariff threat, Mr. Trump told NBC News: “I 100 percent will.”
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Trump added: “Europe should be focused on the war with Russia and Ukraine because, frankly, you see what that has done for them… That’s what Europe should be focusing on – not Greenland.”
Denmark has warned that US military action in Greenland would mean the end of NATO. In recent days, Greenland has received support from European members of the alliance – some even sent a handful of troops to Greenland last week, a move seen as symbolic.
However, Trump followed this deployment by announcing the imposition of tariffs on the eight NATO allies.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Europe must show that President Trump’s tariff threats are “not the way forward.”
“We have red lines that cannot be crossed,” he told Sky News. “You cannot threaten your way to Greenland’s ownership. I have no intention of making the situation worse.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance would continue to work with Denmark and Greenland on Arctic security.
The European Union is due to hold an emergency summit for its leaders in Brussels on Thursday, where they will discuss how to respond to Trump’s latest threat to seize Greenland.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, said the bloc had “no interest in fighting, but we will hold our position.”
“But commercial threats are not the right solution,” Kallas added. “Sovereignty is not a matter of commerce.”
It comes as text exchanges between Trump and the Norwegian prime minister were released – showing that on Sunday the The US president criticized Norway for not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.
In his response – seen by the BBC – Jonas Gahr Støre explained that it is an independent committee, and not the Norwegian government, which awards the prize awarded last October to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.
“Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this issue,” Støre added.
Trump also addressed the text message exchange in Monday’s interview and said, “Norway has total control over it.” [the Nobel Prize] despite what they say.
“They like to say they had nothing to do with it, but they had everything to do with it.”
