UK joins EU leaders slamming Trump tariff threat over Greenland

Donald Trump says eight European countries will get slapped with a 10% tariff starting next month because they don’t back the United States’ control of Greenland. The threat has hit a nerve in Europe.

Leaders from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland called it blackmail and warned that this could tear apart long-standing alliances.

Trump’s team didn’t say if the European Union would be hit as a whole, but the eight countries were listed one by one.

The tariffs, Trump said, were punishment for sending troops to Greenland, even though those deployments were small. European officials said they only did it because Trump had asked them to step up Arctic security months ago. Now he’s using it against them.

Denmark and Norway defend actions in Greenland, reject Trump’s pressure

Lars, Denmark’s foreign minister, said the Arctic is not peaceful anymore, and they’ve been honest with the US about why troops were sent to Greenland. He said, “That’s exactly why we and NATO partners are stepping up in full transparency with our American allies.”

Jonas, Norway’s prime minister, said the whole thing is wrong. “Threats have no place among allies,” he said. Jonas also reminded reporters that Greenland belongs to Denmark and that Norway backs Denmark’s rights there completely. He said NATO already agreed it was time to focus more on Arctic defense.

Ulf, the prime minister of Sweden, went further. “We will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed,” he wrote online. He said this wasn’t just about a few countries—he called it an EU problem that affects the whole bloc.

Emmanuel, the president of France, kept it short. “No intimidation or threats will influence us,” he wrote. He named Greenland directly and called the tariff warning “unacceptable.”

Stefan, a government spokesperson from Germany, said Berlin saw the statement from Trump and was talking with other European governments about how to respond. “We will decide on the right steps together,” he said.

UK, Netherlands, Finland, and opposition leaders warn of consequences

Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, said clearly that Greenland is part of Denmark and its future isn’t up to the US. “We’ve made it clear that Arctic security matters for all of NATO,” he said.

He added that tariffs shouldn’t be used against allies who are trying to keep the region stable.

David, the foreign minister of the Netherlands, said the whole thing was inappropriate. Speaking on a Dutch TV show, he said, “We’re not in favor of using trade tariffs in situations that have nothing to do with trade.” He also said allies should talk to each other instead of trying to push each other around.

Alexander, the president of Finland, said the same thing. “Among allies, issues are best resolved through discussion, not through pressure,” he wrote. He added that this could hurt the US-Europe relationship.

Then came a joint statement from all eight countries. It said Arctic safety is a shared NATO issue, and that a recent Danish exercise called Arctic Endurance was planned with allies. “It poses no threat to anyone,” they wrote.

They said they stand fully with Denmark and the people of Greenland, and warned that tariff threats are dangerous and risk serious fallout between allies.

The reaction wasn’t just from sitting leaders. Nigel, head of Reform UK, said these tariffs will “hurt” Britain. He said, “We don’t always agree with the US government and in this case we certainly don’t.”

Richard, also from Reform UK, said Trump was wrong. Kemi, leader of the Conservatives, said Britain had to rebuild its strength. “Otherwise, we’ll end up being poodles as the US annexes Greenland and we’re slapped with tariffs because we have not shown any strength,” she said.

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