Trump says eight European countries face 10% tariff for opposing US control of Greenland
Donald Trump has said he will impose 10% tariffs on Nato countries – including the UK, France, and Germany – who have deployed troops to Greenland amid US threats to take over the Arctic island.
In a lengthy Truth Social post, he said “Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Finland have journeyed to Greenland, for purposes unknown”, adding: “This is a very dangerous situation for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet.”
The US president said 10% tariffs will be imposed on all goods the countries export to the United States from 1 February, followed by a 25% rate from 1 June.
“This Tariff will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland,” he added.
Trump reiterated his warning that “China and Russia want Greenland”, saying “there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it”.
Key events
Kemi Badenoch has described Donald Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on European countries as a “terrible idea”.
Posting on social media, the Conservative leader said:
President Trump is completely wrong to announce tariffs on the UK over Greenland. People in both UK and US will face higher costs. These tariffs will be yet another burden for businesses across our country. The sovereignty of Greenland should only be decided by the people of Greenland. On this, I agree with Keir Starmer.
As a reminder, Donald Trump had previously threatened to impose tariffs on countries opposing his plan to take control of Greenland.
Speaking during an event at the White House yesterday, he said: “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security.”
Donald Trump has said “world peace is at stake” as he unveiled 10% tariffs on European countries opposing US plans to acquire Greenland.
Posting on Truth Social, the US president said:
We have subsidized Denmark, and all of the Countries of the European Union, and others, for many years by not charging them Tariffs, or any other forms of remuneration. Now, after Centuries, it is time for Denmark to give back — World Peace is at stake!
Trump concluded his post by saying the US 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”.
Trump says eight European countries face 10% tariff for opposing US control of Greenland
Donald Trump has said he will impose 10% tariffs on Nato countries – including the UK, France, and Germany – who have deployed troops to Greenland amid US threats to take over the Arctic island.
In a lengthy Truth Social post, he said “Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Finland have journeyed to Greenland, for purposes unknown”, adding: “This is a very dangerous situation for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet.”
The US president said 10% tariffs will be imposed on all goods the countries export to the United States from 1 February, followed by a 25% rate from 1 June.
“This Tariff will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland,” he added.
Trump reiterated his warning that “China and Russia want Greenland”, saying “there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it”.
Donald Trump is using Greenland “as a weapon of mass distraction from the real threats” such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, the former head of Nato has said.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who also served as Denmark’s prime minister from 2001 to 2009, told the Financial Times:
I am actually concerned that the world’s attention is now focused on something that does not represent a threat, neither to Europe nor to the United States — namely Greenland, a friendly ally of the United States — instead of focusing on what should be the focal point right now: namely, how can we force Putin to the negotiation table in Ukraine?
Rasmussen said he has “considered the United States as the natural leader of the free world” since his childhood.
“I’ve even spoken about the US as the world’s policeman,” he added. “Now we see the United States use a language that’s pretty close to the gangsters that they should control in Moscow, Beijing, etc.”
Summary
If you’re just joining us, here’s a round-up of the day’s main developments:
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Thousands gathered all around Denmark and in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, as part of a planned “Hands Off Greenland” action protesting Donald Trump and his threats to take over the island. “We are demonstrating against American statements and ambitions to annex Greenland. We demand respect for the Danish Realm and for Greenland’s right to self-determination,” Camilla Siezing, chair of the Joint Association Inuit, said in a statement.
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These protests took place after Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose tariffs on countries that do not “go along” with his plan to annex Greenland. He later doubled down on those statements by posting on Truth Social an image of himself accompanied with the caption “Mister Tariff” and “The Tariff King”.
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Meanwhile, a bipartisan congressional delegation continued to meet with Danish and Greenlandic leaders in Copenhagen, where they maintained their support of both Greenland and Denmark in direct contrast with statements coming from the White House.
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With Nato allies troops in Greenland this week, some Greenland residents are now preparing for the worst, either stocking up on supplies or readying themselves to flee quickly.
Here are some images coming out of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, where demonstrators held a “Hands Off Greenland” rally in protest of Donald Trump and his plan to annex the island.
While thousands gathered and marched in Copenhagen in protest of Donald Trump and his plan to take control of Greenland, other rallies were planned around Denmark in support of the Arctic island.
Here’s a look at where the other demonstrations were scheduled to take place around Denmark today:
Some Greenland residents have told AFP that they are weighing drastic options as Donald Trump continues to push his plans to take control of their home.
Ulrikke Andersen, who lives in the capital of Nuuk, told AFP that if the US invades Greenland, she will flee with her daughter. “Before, I was ready to die for my country but when I had a kid that changed everything,” she said.
Others told AFP that they were planning for the worst case scenario – filling their freezers, stocking up on water and petrol and buying generators.
“I’m thinking about where to hide and what medicines we need to stock,” said 35-year-old student Nuunu Binzer. “But I haven’t done it yet.”
What do people in Greenland think of Trump and his threats?
What do people in Greenland think of Donald Trump and his threats to take over the island? The Guardian’s Miranda Bryant and Lauren Hurrell take a look.
Reuters estimated that thousands of protesters attended the “Hands Off Greenland” rallies around Denmark on Saturday, chanting “Greenland is not for sale” and waving Greenland’s red and white “Erfalasorput” flag.
“I am very grateful for the huge support we as Greenlanders receive … we are also sending a message to the world that you all must wake up,” said Julie Rademacher, chair of Uagut, an organization for Greenlanders in Denmark.
She added: “Greenland and the Greenlanders have involuntarily become the front in the fight for democracy and human rights.”
The bipartisan US congressional delegation in Copenhagen held a news conference Saturday to once again reassure Denmark and Greenland of their support, the Associated Press reports.
Delegation leader Chris Coons, a Democratic senator from Delaware, said that the US has respect for Denmark and Nato “for all we’ve done together”.
“I hope that the people of the Kingdom of Denmark do not abandon their faith in the American people,” Coons said.
The delegation’s comments contrasted with the sentiment coming from the White House, with Donald Trump on Friday threatening to impose tariffs on countries that do not support his plan to take over Greenland. Earlier this week, Trump said anything less than Greenland being in US hands would be “unacceptable.”
Here are some more images coming out of the “Hands Off Greenland” demonstration in Copenhagen:
Protest under way in Denmark
Demonstrators have begun gathering in front of City Hall in Copenhagen as part of a series of actions planned throughout Denmark and Greenland in protest of Donald Trump and his plans to take control of Greenland.
The plan in Copenhagen is march to the US embassy in the Danish capital. Other rallies are set to begin later Saturday in Greenland and in other parts of Denmark.
“We are demonstrating against American statements and ambitions to annex Greenland. We demand respect for the Danish Realm and for Greenland’s right to self-determination. Hopefully we can show that there are many of us who support Greenland ,” Camilla Siezing, the chairwoman of the Inuit Association, said in a statement.
Republican dissent as key figures warn Trump against Greenland pursuit
Chris Stein
Donald Trump’s renewed interest in taking control of Greenland has become a subject of pointed dissent among congressional Republicans, with several allies speaking out in recent days against the idea after the president reintensified his interest following the US raid that captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
Congressional Republicans are typically loath to disagree openly with the president, who has repeatedly called for his party’s dissenters to be voted out of office. But amid polling that shows an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose taking control of the island and warnings from Denmark that an invasion would spell the end of Nato, some congressional Republicans have issued forceful warnings against pursuing the issue.
“The thought of the United States taking the position that we would take Greenland, an independent territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, is absurd,” North Carolina senator Thom Tillis said in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday. “Somebody needs to tell the president that the people of Greenland, up until these current times, were actually very, very pro-American and very, very pro American presence.”
More here:
In his latest posts on Truth Social, Donald Trump appeared to double down on his threats to impose tariffs on countries that do not “go along” with his plan to annex Greenland.
Late Friday, the president posted a black-and-white photograph of himself leaning over his desk in the Oval Office, his face serious and his hands in fist. The photo was accompanied with the text: “Mister Tariff”.
He posted a duplicate of that same photo again in another post with the text: “The Tariff King”.
During a wide-ranging 45-minute nearly uninterrupted address in the White House East Room on Friday, Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on countries that do not “go along” with his plans to annex Greenland.
Though his comments on the matter were brief, it was the second time this week the president used the threat of tariffs – he had previously said that he would impose a 25% tax on imports to the US from countries that do business with Iran amid a brutal crackdown by its regime that has left thousands dead and imprisoned tens of thousands.
Watch here:
European leaders spent the past year treading carefully around Donald Trump as he levied tariffs, pushed Nato countries to increase their defence spending to 5% of GDP and threatened to pull US support from Ukraine.
But Trump’s plans to seize control of Greenland “may force Europe to draw a line in the snow”, writes The Guardian’s Andrew Roth and Jennifer Rankin.
“Everything else has been subject to negotiation … but the Greenland situation is different because it comes to the question of sovereignty, and it comes to the question of whether Europe is capable of standing up for itself in terms of its own territory, its own rights,” said Kristine Berzina, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund for US defence and transatlantic security.
Read more here:
Protests planned in Denmark, Greenland against Trump’s calls for annexation
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of today’s events.
A series of demonstrations have been scheduled to take place across Denmark and Greenland today against Donald Trump and his plans to control Greenland.
The aim of Saturday’s protests, which are set to unfold as a US delegation of bipartisan lawmakers meet with Danish and Greenlandic officials in Copenhagen, “is to send a clear and unified message of respect for Greenland’s democracy and fundamental human rights”, Uagut, an organisation of Greenlanders in Denmark, posted on its website.
Jeff Landry, Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, said on Friday that a deal for Washington to take over the island “should and will be made” during this visit and that the president “is serious” about acquiring the largely autonomous territory, which is part of the Danish kingdom.
“In these times, it is important that we show a united front and cooperate broadly. We demand respect for Greenland’s right to self-determination and respect for the people of Greenland. This is not only a fight for Greenland, but also for the rest of the world, ” said Poul Johannesen of the citizens’ initiative, Hands Off Kalaallit Nunaat.
Trump on Friday threatened to impose tariffs against those who oppose his plans to annex the largely autonomous territory, which is part of the Danish kingdom. Earlier in the week, a number of Nato allies – France, Germany, the UK, Norway and Sweden among some – deployed troops to the Arctic island, with the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, saying that Greenland’s defence is a “common concern” for the whole of Nato.
Stay tuned for updates.
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