Trump signals tariffs on nations that oppose Greenland goal

A bipartisan US congressional delegation arrived in Copenhagen on Friday in a bid to reassure the leaders of Denmark and Greenland amid threats from US President Donald Trump to seize the Arctic island. 

The 11-member delegation led by Delaware Democratic Senator Chris Coons met Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

Coons said the delegation was aiming to “lower the temperature.” 

“There’s a lot of rhetoric, but there’s not a lot of reality in the current discussion in ⁠Washington,” Coons told reporters following the meetings. 

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said the visit showed bipartisan solidarity with the people of this country and with Greenland. They’ve been our friends and allies for decades.”

“We want them to know we appreciate that very much. And the statements being made by the president do not reflect what the American people feel,” he added. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that only 17% of Americans support Trump’s designs on Greenland. 

Trump has rattled ties with Denmark, a longstanding US NATO ally, by continuing to insist Greenland come under US control, claiming the move is needed to ensure the strategic island’s security.

This week, several European countries deployed troops to Greenland to take part in military exercises to demonstrate a move towards bolstering NATO’s Arctic strategy. 

“I don’t think troops in Europe impact the president’s decision-making process, nor does it impact his goal of the acquisition of Greenland at all,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a briefing Friday. 

Speaking during an event on Friday about rural health care in the US, President Donald Trump veered from talking about how he had once threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals to doing the same thing to force countries in line with his designs on Greenland. 

“I may do that for Greenland too,” Trump said as an interjection. “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that,” he said.

For months, Trump repeatedly said that the US should control the self-governing island that is part of the kingdom of Denmark.

However, this is the first time he or any of his administration have suggested using tariffs to force the issue.  

Italy has refused to participate in a European reconnaissance mission to Greenland, with Defense Minister Guido Crosetto openly mocking the initiative.

“Greenland. I wonder what for? A trip?…Fifteen Italians, 15 French, 15 Germans — it sounds like the start of a joke,” Crosetto said of the Danish-led mission.

Following renewed threats by US President Donald Trump to take over Greenland, several European NATO members are sending small military teams to Greenland to examine NATO’s ability to defend the Arctic region.

Crosetto also said: “I am in favor of expanding, not dividing, a world that is already too fragmented.” He added that NATO and the United Nations should remain the primary frameworks for managing international security.

Crosetto belongs to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy party. Meloni is widely seen as having warmer relations with Trump than many other European leaders.

As part of a Danish-led reconnaissance mission, a German reconnaissance unit is landed in Greenland on Friday evening, the German military, the Bundeswehr, told AFP news agency. 

The mission aims to analyze how NATO partners can keep the Arctic safe and assess Germany’s potential contribution.

The German Defense Ministry said the 15 troops taking part in the mission include experts in logistics and other areas.

German troops traveled to Denmark on Thursday for initial talks, then continued on to Greenland to participate in the mission with colleagues from Norway, Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands.

Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, a NATO member.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for US control over Greenland and insists that only the US can guarantee the territory’s security amid ostensible threats from Russia and China.

On Wednesday, the Danish Ministry of Defense announced that Denmark will increase its military presence in Greenland.

Greenland has been back in the spotlight ever since US forces carried out an operation against Venezuela, having captured its leader in the raid.

A group of bipartisan leaders are in Copenhagen to push back against US claims over Greenland.

Plus, troops from several European countries, including Germany and France, continue to arrive in Greenland in a show of support for Denmark. 

Jeff Landry, the US special envoy to Greenland, said he plans to visit the Danish semiautonomous territory in March. He also said he believes a deal can be made.

“I do believe that there’s a deal that should and will be made once this plays out,” Landry told Fox News in an interview on Friday as a bipartisan delegation of US lawmakers was set to meet with leaders of Greenland and Denmark.

“The ‍president is serious. I think he’s laid the ​markers down. He’s told Denmark what he’s looking for, ⁠and ​now it’s a matter of having Secretary (of ‌State ‌Marco) Rubio and Vice President JD Vance make a deal,” he stressed.

Landry was named the US special envoy to Greenland in December, and has publicly supported Trump’s push for acquiring the self-governing territory.

Ben Hodges, a retired US general and former commanding general of US Army Europe, now serves as a senior advisor to Human Rights First, a nonpartisan, nonprofit international human rights organization based in New York.

In an interview with DW, he said he didn’t believe the US would invade the island that belongs to Denmark.

“I feel pretty confident that there’s not going to be an invasion, that they won’t use military, because it would be one of the stupidest own goals by America in the last century because of all the damage that that would cause,” he said.

“However, I take very seriously the president’s intention to have Greenland,” Hodges said.

A German Defense Ministry spokesperson has said the current Denmark-led reconnaissance mission in Greenland is aiming to determine whether Eurofighter jets and frigates could be deployed in the future.

“It is a matter of looking at ‍whether the Arctic is ​secure and ​to what extent we can contribute to this together with our NATO partners,” the spokesperson said.

“This ‍involves planning exercises, for example, with P-8 Poseidon ​maritime patrol aircraft … the deployment of frigates or ⁠other ​naval units for maritime surveillance (and) ‌the deployment ‌of Eurofighters is also possible,” he added.

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Jürgen Hardt, a spokesperson on foreign policy from Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), has brought up the option of boycotting the 2026 World Cup set to be held in the US, Canada and Mexico.

In comments made to the German newspaper Bild on Friday, Hardt said the boycott would be in response to Trump’s threats against Greenland.

“Dropping out of the tournament would, however, only be considered as a last resort in order to get Trump to see sense on the Greenland issue,” he said, adding that the US president has already made clear “what a high importance the World Cup has for him.”

Sports Minister Christiane Schenderlein, also from the CDU, did not openly back Hardt’s idea, saying that such a decision is up to the German Football Association (DFB) and FIFA.

The World Cup is set to take place between June 11 and July 19, with Germany having already qualified.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that while the situation is tense, he is a little less concerned that the most extreme outcome is what’s in store, he told German public TV station ARD on Thursday evening.

“What we’re dealing with here is more of a power play,” Pistorius said, adding that the US Congress would also have a say on the matter of Greenland, not just Trump.

The defense minister went on to say that the US president’s main argument is invalidated “by us saying we can secure the territory, your security concerns, we don’t just share them, but we are working to meet them together.”

He also called the deployment of European soldiers to Greenland at this point in time a “coincidence,” since the operation had been planned for a while.

Several European countries have dispatched soldiers to Greenland in a show of support for Denmark.

But the US said the move won’t change President Trump’s intention to acquire the island.

Read DW’s full story on the US reaction to European troops being sent to Greenland.

Soldiers from several European nations are being deployed to Greenland in an act of solidarity with Denmark. Germany has also said it is sending members of the Bundeswehr.

While the deployments come amid threats from the US, the justifications given cited threats from Russian and Chinese ships in the Arctic.

“Russia and China are increasingly using the Arctic for military purposes, thereby jeopardizing the freedom of transport, communication and trade,” Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was quoted as saying.

Read DW’s story on the pledge to send German troops to Greenland.

NATO countries are deploying military personnel to Greenland as US President Donald Trump ramps up threats to forcibly annex the Arctic island.

Greenlanders welcome the support against what was once their largest ally.