Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump on Saturday escalated a diplomatic dispute with Europe over the future of Greenland, announcing a 10 percent tariff on eight European nations that oppose the United States acquiring the territory.
In a series of posts on Truth Social, the president called Greenland critical to U.S. national security and global stability, warning that “world peace is at stake” and claiming that “China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it.”
Mocking Denmark’s ability to defend the Arctic island, President Trump said Copenhagen has only “two dogsleds” to protect Greenland, which Denmark has controlled since the 18th century. He argued that only the United States has the capacity to secure the territory against major geopolitical rivals.
“We have subsidized Denmark, and all of the Countries of the European Union, and others, for many years by not charging them Tariffs, or any other forms of remuneration. Now, after Centuries, it is time for Denmark to give back,” President Trump wrote.
The president said the tariffs would apply to Denmark and seven other European countries, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, all of which he said have committed to deploying military forces to Greenland in support of Denmark.
“This is a very dangerous situation for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet. These countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable,” President Trump added.
The new tariffs would be imposed on top of baseline trade penalties negotiated earlier this year, including a 15 percent tariff on European Union goods and a 10 percent baseline tariff on British imports. The president warned that if the Greenland dispute is not resolved by June, the additional 10 percent tariff announced Saturday would rise to 25 percent.
President Trump said that while past U.S. presidents had unsuccessfully sought to acquire Greenland for more than 150 years, failure was no longer acceptable, citing the island’s strategic importance to emerging defense systems, including the proposed Golden Dome missile defense network.
“Hundreds of Billions of Dollars are currently being spent on Security Programs having to do with ‘The Dome,’ including for the possible protection of Canada, and this very brilliant, but highly complex system can only work at its maximum potential and efficiency, because of angles, metes, and bounds, if this Land is included in it,” he wrote.
