Trump declares ‘now it is time’ to thwart the Russian threat to Greenland as he scolds Denmark for failing to protect the Arctic nation

Donald Trump declared that ‘now is the time’ to stop Russia’s alleged threat to Greenland and accused Denmark of failing to protect its territory.

Trump’s latest threat to take Greenland by any means necessary comes as the European Union threatens draconian retaliatory tariffs against Trump’s promise to punish countries that do not support US control of the polar nation.

Trump wrote on Truth Social: ‘NATO has been telling Denmark for 20 years that you must ‘remove the Russian threat from Greenland.’

‘Unfortunately Denmark couldn’t do anything about it. Now the time has come and it will be done!!!’

Trump has increasingly voiced the importance of the US acquisition of Greenland, especially after the successful capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

He warned their administrations that if we did not protect them, Russia or China would move to take over the resource-rich country.

Trump threatened to impose tariffs on “countries that are not compliant with Greenland” as he escalated his pressure campaign on Friday.

Then on Saturday, Britain, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden announced the deployment of small numbers of troops to Greenland in response to Trump’s aggressive rhetoric.

Trump’s latest salvo to seize Greenland by any means necessary comes as the European Union threatened draconian retaliatory tariffs against Trump’s promise to punish countries that do not support US control of the polar nation, and as anti-Trump protests took place in Greenland on Saturday.

Leaders of these countries warned that Trump’s repeated threats were ‘undermining transatlantic relations and risking a dangerous downward spiral’.

In an unusually strong joint statement from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland, it was stated that the troops sent to Greenland for the ‘Arctic Endurance’ operation ‘do not pose a threat to anyone’.

Trump appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks on the status of Greenland, a semi-autonomous region of NATO ally Denmark that he sees as critical to US national security.

In response, the EU is preparing to potentially threaten the United States with retaliatory tariffs on $107.7 billion worth of goods or denying America access to the EU market. Financial Times reported.

They are also considering the never-before-used ‘Anti-Coercive Instrument’ (ACI), which could limit access to public procurement, investment or banking activities, or restrict trade in services (including digital services) that the US has a surplus of in the bloc.

According to an EU source, the tariff package appears to have garnered wider support as an initial response than anti-repression measures; So the picture is now ‘very mixed’.

On Friday, the Kremlin said Russia considered Greenland to be Danish territory, adding that the security situation surrounding the island was ‘exceptional’.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (pictured) met with a bipartisan US Congressional delegation last week

Even before returning to office, 79-year-old Trump had said that US ownership of the island was an ‘absolute necessity’ to protect global ‘national security and freedom’.

“For the purposes of National Security and Freedom worldwide, the United States considers the ownership and control of Greenland to be an absolute necessity,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in December 2024.

The US president’s interest was reignited last month when the Greenlandic and Danish foreign ministers met with Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Following this meeting, Danish representatives said they had a “fundamental disagreement” with Trump over Greenland.

Russia’s recent comments on possible US expansion into Greenland have dismissed any interest in competing with Trump’s advances and criticized the president.

In recent months, Europeans have mostly opted for diplomacy and pandering around it, even as they want an end to the war in Ukraine.

The statement from European countries on Sunday, in addition to Denmark sending troops to Greenland for a military training exercise, appeared to be a step away from that strategy.

President Donald Trump speaks at an event to encourage investment in rural health care in the East Room of the White House on Friday

On Friday, the Kremlin said Russia considered Greenland to be Danish territory, adding that the security situation surrounding the island was ‘exceptional’.

“The situation is unusual, I would even say extraordinary from the point of view of international law,” presidential press secretary and spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian state news outlet Ria Novost.

Moscow this week said it was unacceptable for the West to claim Russia and China were threatening Greenland and said the crisis in the region showed the double standards of Western powers claiming “moral superiority”.

Trump will attend the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday and Thursday and hold private talks with European leaders.

In response to rising tensions, gold and silver prices climbed to new highs on Monday as investors flocked to safe-haven assets amid rising tensions.

Spot gold rose 1.5 percent to $4,663.37 per ounce by 03:35 GMT, after reaching an all-time high of $4,689.39.

US gold futures for February delivery rose 1.6% to $4,669.90 per ounce.

U.S. stock futures and the dollar fell as Trump’s latest tariff threats boosted investors’ appetite for safe-haven gold, the yen and the Swiss franc.

Senator Chris Coons (pictured center) leads a congressional delegation on a two-day visit to Copenhagen, where American representatives plan to show strong bipartisan and bicameral support in Congress for the Danish NATO ally

People take part in a protest against US President Donald Trump’s demand that the Arctic island be handed over to the US and allowed to determine its own future

Non-yielding gold thrives in a low interest rate environment and during economic uncertainties.

Spot silver rose 3.3 percent to $92.93 per ounce, after reaching a record peak of $94.08.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, who visited his Norwegian counterpart in Oslo, said that Denmark will continue to focus on diplomacy, referring to the agreement between Denmark, Greenland and the United States to establish a working group on Wednesday.

‘The USA is also more than the US president. I was just there. “There are also checks and balances in American society,” he added.

Eight countries currently subject to US tariffs of 10 percent and 15 percent have sent small numbers of military personnel to Greenland amid a dispute with the United States over the future of Denmark’s vast Arctic island.

“Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and lead to a dangerous decline,” they said in a joint statement published on Sunday, adding that they were ready to engage in dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In her written statement, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated that she was encouraged by the consistent messages coming from the rest of the continent and added: ‘We will not be blackmailed by Europe.’

As NATO puts on a brave face in the face of Trump’s threats, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Norwegian Foreign Minister Barth Eide arrived in Norway for an exercise on Thursday.

The tariff threat has unsettled global markets with the expectation that the euro and sterling will lose value against the dollar and return to volatility.

Trump also warned that the United States could withdraw from NATO if America’s allies do not agree to buy Greenland.

Outside the White House on Friday, a reporter asked the president, “Would you withdraw from NATO if it won’t help you take Greenland?” he asked.

Trump warned: ‘We’ll see. NATO is dealing with us in Greenland, we need Greenland very much for national security. If we don’t have that, we have a huge deficit in terms of national security, especially in terms of the Golden Dome.’

Golden Dome is a proposed multi-layered missile defense system, and the president says it depends on Denmark gaining control of the Arctic.

Trump insisted the US take Greenland, the semi-autonomous region of NATO ally Denmark, and stressed that anything less than full control was ‘unacceptable’.

The US military has been operating out of Thule Air Base in Greenland, located between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, for decades.

The northernmost U.S. base is part of the military’s global network of radar and other sensors that provide ballistic missile warning and space surveillance.

The talks were short-lived because Danish officials said the Arctic nation did not want to be part of America.

His quest drew fierce backlash from liberals, with one Republican lawmaker even warning Trump that an invasion of the country could result in his removal from office.

A bipartisan congressional delegation arrived in Copenhagen on Friday for talks aimed at boosting support for America’s NATO ally.

The 11 members of the Congress were to meet with Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

‘We show bipartisan solidarity with the people of this country and Greenland. They have been our friends and allies for decades,” Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin told reporters.

‘We want them to know that we appreciate it very much. And the statements made by the president do not reflect how the American people feel.’

In addition to Durbin, the US delegation included Democratic senators Chris Coons, Jeanne Shaheen and Peter Welch, as well as Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis.

House Democrats on the delegation include Madeleine Dean, Steny Hoyer, Sara Jacobs, Sarah McBride and Gregory Meeks.