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Trump vows tariffs on eight European nations over Greenland

Published: 18 Jan. 2026, 13:49

A 3D-printed miniature model of U.S. President Donald Trump, and the EU and Greenland flags appear in this illustration taken on Jan. 17. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday 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 Truth Social, Trump said additional 10 percent import tariffs would take effect on Feb. 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Britain — all already subject to Trump's tariffs.

Those tariffs would increase to 25 percent on June 1 and remain in place until a deal is reached for the United States to purchase Greenland, Trump wrote.

Trump has repeatedly insisted he will settle for nothing less than ownership of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. 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.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll of U.S. residents this week found that less than one in five respondents support the idea of acquiring Greenland.

The president has repeatedly said Greenland is vital to U.S. 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.

A crowd walks to the U.S. consulate to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's policy towards Greenland in Nuuk, Greenland on Jan. 17. [AP/YONHAP]

"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. 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 countries named by Trump on Saturday have backed Denmark, warning that the U.S. 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 X that 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 trans-Atlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated and committed to upholding its sovereignty," they said.

People protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of U.S. consulate in Nuuk, Greenland on Jan. 17. [AP/YONHAP]

Officials from Norway, Sweden, France and Germany reiterated their support for Denmark on Saturday and said tariffs should not be part of discussions over Greenland.

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.

Saturday's threat could derail tentative deals Trump struck last year with the European Union and Britain. The deals included baseline levies of 15 percent on imports from Europe and 10 percent on most British goods.

"The biggest danger, it seems to me, is his decision to treat some EU countries different from others," said William Reinsch, a trade expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "I'm not surprised. It may well convince the European Parliament that it is pointless to approve the trade agreement with the United States, since Trump is already bypassing it." Trump floated the idea of tariffs on Greenland on Friday, without citing a legal basis for them. Tariffs have become his weapon of choice in seeking to compel American adversaries and allies alike to meet his demands.

He said this week he would put 25 percent tariffs on any country trading with Iran as that country suppressed anti-government protests, though there has been no official documentation from the White House of the policy on its website, nor information about the legal authority Trump would use. The U.S. Supreme Court has heard arguments on the legality of Trump's sweeping tariffs, and any decision by the top U.S. judicial body would have major implications on the global economy and U.S. presidential powers.

Inuits sing a national song during a protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the U.S. consulate in Nuuk, Greenland on Jan. 17. [AP/YONHAP]

The encroaching presence of China and Russia makes Greenland vital to U.S. security interests, Trump has said. Danish and other European officials have pointed out that Greenland is already covered by NATO's collective security pact.

A U.S. military base, Pituffik Space Base, is already in Greenland, with around 200 personnel, and a 1951 agreement allows the United States to deploy as many forces as it wants in the Danish territory.

That has led many European officials to conclude that Trump is motivated more by a desire to expand U.S. territory than by security concerns.

"China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among allies," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on X in response to Trump's threat.

Some U.S. senators also pushed back. "Continuing down this path is bad for America, bad for American businesses and bad for America's allies," Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis, bipartisan co-chairs of the Senate NATO Observer Group, said in a statement.

Europeans should not react hastily to Trump's tariff threat, said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING Research.

"Just ignore it and wait and see," Brzeski told Reuters. "Europe has shown that it will not accept everything, and so the tariffs are actually already a step forward compared to the threatened military invasion."

Reuters