Trump threatens tariffs against countries who oppose his Greenland plans

US President Donald Trump has said he is considering imposing new tariffs on countries that oppose his plan to annex Greenland.

Trump has repeatedly insisted that the US should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Nato ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than US ownership of the Arctic island would be “unacceptable”.

During an unrelated White House event on rural health care on Friday, he recounted how he had threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

“I may do that for Greenland too,” Trump said.

“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.”

Trump had not previously suggested using tariffs to push the issue.

Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in Washington with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Denmark, earlier this week, said there had been ‘fundamental disagreement’ with the US

The meeting did not resolve the big differences but resulted in an agreement to set up a working group, though Denmark and the White House publicly offered differing accounts of its purpose.

European leaders have stressed that decisions about Greenland are for Denmark and Greenland alone, while Denmark said this week it is increasing its military presence on the island in cooperation with allies.

Greenland has become the focus of a geopolitical dispute after Trump said he wants the US to own the island, a demand Greenlanders have rejected.

Trump has said he wants to control Greenland “at any cost”, and the White House has not ruled out the use of force, while Denmark’s prime minister has warned that seizing the island by force could threaten the future of Nato.

Greenland is important because melting ice linked to climate change could open shorter shipping routes to Asia and make it easier to access and transport untapped deposits of critical minerals used in devices such as computers and phones.

Trump has also said he wants Greenland to strengthen US security, citing what he describes as a threat from Russian and Chinese ships.

However, both experts and Greenlanders have questioned that claim.