JANUARY 16, 2026
Greenland is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark. – Julia Wäschenbach/dpa/Zuma Press
President Trump threatened to impose tariffs on countries that oppose his efforts to take control of Greenland.
“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,” the president said at the White House on Friday.
Speaking during a healthcare event, Trump said the threat of tariffs against countries such as France and Germany had previously helped him address high prices for prescription drugs. That approach could help him gain control of Greenland, he said.
Trump has said the U.S. must own the semiautonomous Danish territory of about 75,000 people, which is located immediately northeast of Canada, for America’s national security. The president has said in recent days that If the U.S. doesn’t control Greenland, China or Russia will. The White House hasn’t ruled out using force to take the territory.
Denmark and Greenland have said that the island isn’t available and that its people don’t want to be part of the U.S.
Trump’s repeated efforts to annex Greenland have sparked a rare public row with some of his Republican allies in Congress, who have sharply rebuked the plan and said it would violate a North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally’s sovereignty and undermine U.S. trust with its European partners.
A bipartisan Congressional delegation visited Copenhagen for discussions with senior Danish officials and lawmakers on Friday, offering messages of reassurance that the legislative branch opposed Trump’s wish to annex Greenland.
Danish lawmakers expressed bafflement and confusion at the president’s campaign to take Greenland, given that Greenland and Denmark have both voiced willingness to give America sweeping military and economic access to the Arctic island already.
“I’m not sure if Trump knows how unpopular the U.S. is and President Trump is right now here,” said Jan Jorgensen, a Danish member of parliament. “He shouldn’t be worried about security because NATO and the U.S. can open as many military bases on Greenland as he would like, so there’s no need for Greenland to be American,” he said.
“There’s really a deep disappointment here,” he added.
The president’s comments came after the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland visited Washington in search of a solution.
On Wednesday in Washington, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt held an initial meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the dispute. A senior Danish official said the meetings were constructive and positive, but conceded they didn’t convince the American side to fully back off Trump’s aims over Greenland.
Rasmussen described the conversation as a positive step forward, with the two sides agreeing to set up a working group and continue talks.
Courtesy/Source: WSJ
