Trump says he will ‘100%’ carry out Greenland tariffs threat, as EU vows to protect its interests

Donald Trump has vowed to “100 percent” follow through on his threat to impose tariffs on European countries that oppose his demand to take control of Greenland.

European allies rallied around Greenland’s sovereignty. Denmark’s foreign minister has stressed that the US president cannot threaten his path to taking ownership of semi-autonomous Danish territory.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper reiterated Britain’s position that Greenland’s future would be decided by “Greenlanders and Danes alone”.

Trump on Monday refused to rule out the use of force and insisted he would continue to impose tariffs on goods coming into the United States from the United Kingdom and seven other NATO-allied countries.

Asked by NBC News whether he would use force to seize Greenland, Trump said, “No comment.”

The US president said he would impose a 10 percent customs duty on “any goods” sent from Britain to the US as of February 1, increasing this duty to 25 percent from June 1 until an agreement is reached on Washington’s purchase of Greenland from Denmark.

Trump said the same would apply to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, all of which are members of NATO, the defense alliance founded in 1949.

Asked if he would follow through on his tariff threat, Mr. Trump told NBC News: “100% I will.”

Trump added: “Europe should be focusing on the war with Russia and the war with Ukraine because frankly you see what that’s gotten them… That’s what Europe should be focusing on, not on Greenland.”

Denmark has warned that US military intervention in Greenland would mean the end of NATO. In recent days, Greenland has received support from European members of the alliance; It even sent a handful of troops to Greenland last week, in a move seen by some as symbolic.

But Trump followed that deployment with an announcement that would impose tariffs on eight NATO allies.

Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Europe must show that President Trump’s tariff threats “are not the way forward”.

“We have red lines that cannot be crossed,” he told Sky News. “You cannot threaten to take over Greenland. I have no intention of escalating this situation.”

NATO secretary general Mark Rutte said the alliance would continue to work with Denmark and Greenland on Arctic security.

The European Union will hold an emergency summit for its leaders in Brussels on Thursday, where they will discuss how to respond to Trump’s latest threat to seize Greenland.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the bloc “has no intention of fighting, but we will hold our ground.”

“But trade threats are not the way to do it,” Kallas added. “Sovereignty is not for commerce.”

This follows the publication of cables between Trump and the Norwegian prime minister last Sunday. US President blames Norway for not receiving Nobel Peace Prize.

In his response, seen by the BBC, Jonas Gahr Støre clarified that an independent committee, not the Norwegian government, awarded the award to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado last October.

“Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this issue,” Støre said.

Trump also addressed the text message exchange in Monday’s interview, saying: “Norway completely controls this [the Nobel Prize] despite what you said.

“They like to say they have nothing to do with it, but they have something to do with everything.”