Trump threatens tariffs as US lawmakers back Denmark, Greenland

NUUK: Donald Trump on Friday warned that he could slap tariffs on countries that do not support his Greenland takeover plans, as US Congress members visited Copenhagen to give their backing for Denmark and its autonomous Arctic island.

The bipartisan delegation, on a two-day trip to the Danish capital, said the US president’s long-held territorial ambitions — strongly rejected by Denmark — were not shared by the American people.

Europeans have also been showing their backing for Greenland in a military reconnaissance mission that a Danish general said Washington was invited to and which was linked to what Russia does after the war in Ukraine.

Trump, again insisting the United States needed mineral-rich Greenland for its “national security,” warned that he “may put a tariff” on countries that oppose that stance.

The 11 visiting US lawmakers held talks with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, as well as Denmark’s foreign and defence ministers, parliamentarians and business leaders.

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said there was “good dialogue” and stressed it was important to “nurture” ties between the United States, Denmark and Greenland.

“The vast majority” of Americans do not agree that it is a good idea for the United States to acquire Greenland, she told reporters.

“Greenland needs to be viewed as our ally, not as an asset,” she added.

"One way or the other"

Greenlanders were putting cautious hope in all-out efforts to contain US President Donald Trump’s designs on their Arctic island, as European soldiers arrived in their streets and US lawmakers visited Denmark.

In this vast territory that has never fought a war of its own, the 57,000 inhabitants say that, alone, they feel helpless against the leader of a world superpower who insists he will take their home “one way or the other.”

“I feel safer,” Marie Sofie Pedersen, a social worker in the city of Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, said after soldiers from countries including France and Germany arrived.

“I hope they won’t stay here forever, but just as long as we’re vulnerable and something could happen,” she told AFP.

A modest number of military personnel were deployed this week by a handful of European countries after Trump said he wants to seize the autonomous Danish territory.

Trump has insisted the United States needs strategically located and mineral-rich Greenland for “national security,” and has criticised Denmark for, he says, not doing enough to ensure its security.

The Republican has pursued that argument despite Greenland — as part of Denmark — being covered by NATO’s security umbrella.

A few dozen advance troops have arrived in Nuuk in the past few days to prepare for their armies’ participation in future Danish exercises in the Arctic.

No US soldiers are among them.

While the European military presence has been relatively discreet, it has been well received on the city’s icy streets, where Greenland’s red-and-white flag hangs from many shopfronts and buildings.

“We have to stay together in Europe,” a 39-year-old union representative who asked to remain anonymous told AFP.

“Otherwise, the Americans will crush us. We are not big enough, but together, we will be.”

Greenlandic authorities have informed the population that more NATO troops will be coming to town.

“There will be more military flights and ships,” Greenland’s deputy prime minister, Mute Egede, said on Wednesday.

Just hours earlier, talks at the White House between Danish, Greenlandic and US officials failed to iron out differences between Copenhagen and Nuuk on one side and Washington on the other.

‘Strategic signaling’

Trump’s ambitions appear to have temporarily dampened Greenlanders’ appetite for independence, a goal they have been striving for after three centuries of Danish sovereignty.

But now is not the time, Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said this week.

“We are now facing a geopolitical crisis,” he said.

If Greenland had to choose between remaining part of Denmark or becoming part of the United States, “we choose Denmark,” Nielsen added.

According to experts, sending a small European contingent to the island is a matter of “strategic signaling” to the US.

But Washington appears unfazed.

“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 said on Thursday.

On Friday, a bipartisan US congressional delegation began a visit to Copenhagen to voice support for Denmark and Greenland, during which they were to meet Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart.

That provided another source of hope for Greenlanders.

“Congress would never approve of a military action in Greenland,” the 39-year-old union activist said.

“If people in Congress want to save their own democracy, they have to step up.”