Trump says he might punish international locations with tariffs over Greenland

[ad_1] COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump instructed Friday that he might punish international locations with tariffs in the event that they don’t again the U.S. controlling Greenland , a message that got here as a bipartisan Congressional delegation sought to decrease tensions within the Danish capital.

Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. ought to management Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and mentioned earlier this week that something lower than the Arctic island being in U.S. fingers can be “unacceptable.”

Army vessel HDMS Ejnar Mikkelsen of the Royal Danish Navy patrols close to Nuuk, Greenland, on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Picture/Evgeniy Maloletka)

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Individuals stroll on a seaside in Nuuk, Greenland, on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Picture/Evgeniy Maloletka)

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Throughout an unrelated occasion on the White Home about rural well being care, he recounted Friday how he had threatened European allies with tariffs on prescribed drugs.

“I'll try this for Greenland too,” Trump mentioned. “I'll put a tariff on international locations in the event that they don’t associate with Greenland, as a result of we want Greenland for nationwide safety. So I'll try this,” he mentioned.

He had not beforehand talked about utilizing tariffs to attempt to power the difficulty.

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

That encounter didn’t resolve the deep differences , however did produce an settlement to arrange a working group — on whose objective Denmark and the White Home then provided sharply diverging public views .

European leaders have insisted that's just for Denmark and Greenland to resolve on issues regarding the territory, and Denmark mentioned this week that it was rising its navy presence in Greenland in cooperation with allies.

President Donald Trump speaks throughout an occasion to advertise funding in rural well being care within the East Room of the White Home, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Picture/Alex Brandon)

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A relationship that ‘we have to nurture’ In Copenhagen, a gaggle of senators and members of the Home of Representatives met Friday with Danish and Greenlandic lawmakers, and with leaders together with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

Delegation chief Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, thanked the group’s hosts for “225 years of being a superb and trusted ally and companion” and mentioned that “we had a robust and sturdy dialogue about how we lengthen that into the long run.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, mentioned after assembly lawmakers that the go to mirrored a robust relationship over many years and “it's one which we have to nurture.” She advised reporters that “Greenland must be considered as our ally, not as an asset, and I feel that’s what you’re listening to with this delegation.”

The tone contrasted with that emanating from the White Home. Trump has sought to justify his requires a U.S. takeover by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their very own designs on Greenland, which holds huge untapped reserves of important minerals. The White Home hasn’t dominated out taking the territory by force .

“We have now heard so many lies, to be trustworthy and a lot exaggeration on the threats in the direction of Greenland,” mentioned Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic politician and member of the Danish parliament who took half in Friday’s conferences. “And principally, I'd say the threats that we’re seeing proper now's from the U.S. aspect.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska., arrives as members of the Danish Parliament and a Greenlandic committee meet with American Congress members on the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix by way of AP)

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Murkowski emphasised the position of Congress in spending and in conveying messages from constituents.

“I feel it is very important underscore that whenever you ask the American individuals whether or not or not they suppose it's a good suggestion for the US to amass Greenland, the overwhelming majority, some 75%, will say, we don't suppose that that's a good suggestion,” she mentioned.

Together with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, Murkowski has launched bipartisan laws that may prohibit the usage of U.S. Protection or State division funds to annex or take management of Greenland or the sovereign territory of any NATO member state with out that ally’s consent or authorization from the North Atlantic Council.

Inuit council criticizes White Home statements The dispute is looming massive within the lives of Greenlanders . Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said on Tuesday that “if we've got to decide on between the US and Denmark right here and now, we select Denmark. We select NATO. We select the Kingdom of Denmark. We select the EU.””

The chair of the Nuuk, Greenland-based Inuit Circumpolar Council, which represents round 180,000 Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia’s Chukotka area on worldwide points, mentioned persistent statements from the White Home that the U.S. should personal Greenland provide “a transparent image of how the US administration views the individuals of Greenland, how the U.S. administration views Indigenous peoples, and peoples which are few in numbers.”

Sara Olsvig advised The Related Press in Nuuk that the difficulty is “how one of many greatest powers on the planet views different peoples which are much less highly effective than them. And that actually is regarding.”

Indigenous Inuit in Greenland don't wish to be colonized once more, she mentioned.

___

Superville reported from Washington. Emma Burrows in Nuuk, Greenland and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

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