Trump threatens additional tariffs of 10% to the EU if Greenland is not sold to the US
President Donald Trump has vowed to use a wave of rising tariffs on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland.
Trump raised the bar on the future of Denmark’s largest Arctic island in a new post on Truth Social, saying that an additional 10 percent import tariffs will go into effect on February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Great Britain – all of which are already subject to tariffs imposed by Trump.
Those tariffs will increase to 25 percent on June 1 and will continue until an agreement is reached for the US to buy Greenland, Trump wrote.
Trump has repeatedly stressed that he will not settle for anything other than ownership of Greenland, an independent Danish territory. The leaders of Denmark and Greenland have emphasized that the island is not for sale and they do not want to be part of the United States.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll of US citizens this week found that less than one in five respondents supported the idea of finding Greenland.
The president has repeatedly said that Greenland is important to US security because of its strategic location and large mineral deposits, and he has not ruled out using force to take it. European countries this week sent troops to the island at Denmark’s request.
“These countries, playing this very dangerous game, have set the level of risk in a game that is not sustainable or sustainable,” Trump wrote.
Protesters in Denmark and Greenland demonstrated on Saturday against Trump’s demands and demanded that the area be left to decide its future.
Countries named by Trump on Saturday backed Denmark, warning that a US military seizure of NATO territory could destroy the military alliance led by Washington.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in a statement: “The president’s announcement is surprising.
The British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, was unusually forthright in criticizing Trump’s threats, saying in X that his country would raise the issue directly with Washington.
“Applying taxes on allies in pursuit of the collective security of NATO allies is absolutely wrong,” Starmer said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa said in separate but similar posts on X that the European Union stands in “full solidarity” with Denmark and Greenland.
“Taxes will undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downturn. Europe will remain united, united, and committed to its sovereignty,” they said.
Officials from Norway, Sweden, France and Germany reaffirmed their support for Denmark on Saturday and said tariffs should not be part of the Greenland talks. Cyprus, which is currently the EU’s president, said it has requested an emergency meeting of ambassadors from the 27 countries of the union on Sunday.
Trump passed the general idea of a tariff on Greenland on Friday, without laying a legal basis for doing so. Tariffs have become his weapon of choice in seeking to force America’s enemies and allies alike to meet his demands.
He said this week he would impose 25 percent tariffs on any country that trades with Iran as that country cracks down on anti-government protests, although there are no official documents from the White House on the policy on its website, or details about the legal authorities Trump will use.
Other US senators also backed down. “Continuing this way is bad for America, bad for American business and bad for America’s allies,” Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis, co-chairs of the Senate NATO Observer Group, said in a statement.
