Trump threatens to tariff countries that oppose US acquisition of Greenland

In a roundtable event at the White House on Friday, President Donald Trump threatened to place tariffs on countries "if they don’t go along with Greenland." Trump has repeatedly pushed for America to take control of the Arctic territory of Denmark, saying that it is vital to US national security.

"I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for security, so I may do that," Trump said.

Earlier in January, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that the US intends to purchase Greenland. The White House said in a statement at the time, "President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States. The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal."

In the wake of a meeting between Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, Rubio, and Vice President JD Vance, Several NATO member states said that they are deploying a small number of troops to the territory for a joint military exercise. Rasmussen later described the White House discussion as "frank but constructive," while acknowledging a "fundamental disagreement" remained.

Denmark has confirmed that a 1952 order instructing troops in Greenland that "the attacked forces must immediately take up the fight without waiting for or seeking orders" is still in effect, including against allied nations such as the US.