US President Donald Trump has vowed to implement a wave of increasing tariffs on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland, escalating a row over the future of Denmark’s vast Arctic island.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said additional 10 per cent import tariffs would take effect on February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Great Britain – all already subject to tariffs imposed by Trump.
Those tariffs would increase to 25 per cent on June 1 and would continue until a deal was reached for the US to purchase Greenland, Trump wrote.
Trump has repeatedly said he will settle for nothing less than ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Leaders of both Denmark and Greenland have insisted the island is not for sale and does not want to be part of the United States.
The president has said Greenland is vital to US security because of its strategic location and large mineral deposits, and has not ruled out using force to take it.
European nations this week sent military personnel to the island at Denmark’s request.
“These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable,” Trump wrote.
“The United States of America is immediately open to negotiation with Denmark and/or any of these Countries that have put so much at risk, despite all that we have done for them, including maximum protection, over so many decades,” he said.
The nations named by Trump on Saturday have backed Denmark, warning the US military seizure of a territory in NATO could collapse the military alliance that Washington leads.
“The president’s announcement comes as a surprise,” Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in a statement.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was unusually blunt in condemning Trump’s threat, saying on social media platform X his country would raise the issue directly with Washington.
“Applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of NATO allies is completely wrong,” Starmer said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa said in separate but identical posts on X that the European Union stood in “full solidarity” with Denmark and Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” they said.
Officials from Norway, Sweden, France and Germany reiterated support for Denmark on Saturday and said tariffs should not be part of Greenland discussions.
Cyprus, which currently holds the EU presidency, said it has called for an emergency meeting of ambassadors from the union’s 27 countries on Sunday.
Protesters in Denmark and Greenland demonstrated on Saturday against Trump’s demands and called for the territory to be left to determine its own future.
The encroaching presence of China and Russia makes Greenland vital to US security interests, Trump has said.
Danish and other European officials have pointed out that Greenland is already covered by NATO’s collective security pact.