THE European Parliament said Wednesday it was halting work on proposed U.S.-EU trade measures after accusing Washington of undermining the sovereignty of Denmark and Greenland through tariff threats.
“Given the persistent and growing threats, including tariff threats, against Greenland, Denmark and their European allies, we have no choice but to suspend work on the two Turnberry legislative proposals until the United States decides to recommit itself to the path of cooperation rather than confrontation, and before further action is taken,” Bernd Lange, chairman of Parliament’s international trade committee, said in a statement.
THE trade agreement would have suspended customs duties on all industrial products from the United States and established a tariff system for the majority of American agricultural and food products imported into the EU.
Speaking Wednesday from Davos, Switzerland, President Donald Trump said he did not want to use force to pressure NATO allies on Greenland, and said the United States is the only nation capable of controlling and securing Greenland.
DAVOS PREPARES FOR TRUMP AMID TENSIONS OVER NATO, GREENLAND AND WORLD DEFENSE
U.S. President Donald Trump attends the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2026. (Reuters/Romina Amato / Reuters Photos)
“All the United States wants is a place called Greenland,” Trump said Wednesday from his speech at the World Economic Forum. “When we had previously held it as an administrator, but respectfully returned it to Denmark shortly after defeating the Germans, Japanese, Italians and others in World War II, we returned it to them.”
Greenland – the largest island in the world – is located in the Arctic and manages its own internal affairs while remaining within the Kingdom of Denmark.
Container ship in the port of Nuuk, Greenland. (Julia Wäschenbach/photo alliance/Getty Images, file / Getty Images)
More than half a dozen European countries warned in a joint statement Sunday that tariff threats regarding Greenland undermining transatlantic relations as the White House seeks to pressure allies into a deal to acquire the Arctic island.
FORMER MTG REP DROPS COLD WATER ON TRUMP’S GREENLAND ACQUISITION AMBITIONS: “WE’VE HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE”
Trump threatened on his Truth Social platform to impose a 10% rate price on eight European countries unless a deal is reached for what he calls “the complete and total purchase of Greenland.”
At Davos, Trump argued that U.S. control of Greenland would strengthen the security of the United States and Europe, presenting the territory as a strategic necessity rather than a real estate acquisition.
President Donald Trump speaks during the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2026. (Reuters/Denis Balibouse / Reuters Photos)
“The European Union needs us to have it, and it knows it,” he said.
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This is developing news; check back for updates.
Emma Colton and Anders Hagstrom of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
