The UK, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have issued a joint statement saying Trump’s threat risks a “dangerous downward spiral” and “undermines transatlantic relations”.
We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland. Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind.
The sovereignty of Greenland and Denmark cannot be violated, the Irish premier has said.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin also warned that any trade war would be “very damaging to everybody in the world”.
Global markets face a fresh bout of volatility this week after President Donald Trump vowed to slap tariffs on eight European nations until the US is allowed to buy Greenland.
European stocks are trading near record highs, with Germany’s DAX and London’s FTSE index up more than 3% this month, outperforming the S+P 500, which is up 1.3%.
European defence shares are likely to benefit from geopolitical tensions. Defence stocks have jumped almost 15% this month, as the US seizure of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro fuelled concerns about Greenland.
“For European markets it will be a small setback, but not something comparable to the Liberation Day reaction,” Schmieding said.
Northern Ireland first minister Michelle O’Neill has described US president Donald Trump’s plan to “apply tariffs and economic pressure on European countries in order to take control of Greenland” as “deeply concerning”.
“The economies of Ireland and the United States are closely linked, and for many years that relationship has positively supported jobs, investment, and prosperity on both sides,” she said, in a statement on social media network X.
“However, when world leaders make dangerous decisions in the pursuit of land and resources, it is often ordinary people who pay the price.
“In the time ahead, I will work with political and business leaders at home and internationally to protect our local businesses, our all-island economy, and people’s livelihoods.”
António Costa, president of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, pledged to continue their full solidarity with Denmark and Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” they wrote in a joint statement late Saturday.
Meanwhile, Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France and also a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year’s tariff deal with the US, describing Trump’s threats as “commercial blackmail.”
US senator Mark Kelly, a former US Navy pilot and Democrat who represents Arizona, posted that Trump’s threatened tariffs on US allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”
“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” he wrote on social media.
“The damage this president is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction.”
Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Stoere on Sunday urged caution over a looming trade war after US president Donald Trump had threatened additional tariffs on eight European countries including Norway over their support for Greenland.
“I think we should be very careful not to have a trade war that spirals out of control. I don’t think anyone benefits from that,” Stoere told broadcaster NRK following a press conference.
The UK, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have issued a joint statement saying Trump’s threat risks a “dangerous downward spiral” and “undermines transatlantic relations”.
We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland. Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind.
Finland’s prime minister Petteri Orpo has also reacted to Trump’s comments, posting on his social media that believes tariffs “do not serve anyone” and would harm both Europe and the US.
“Finland’s view is that any questions among allies should be resolved through discussions, not through pressure.
“The US has raised concerns about Arctic security, which is a key issue for Finland.
“We seek to safeguard Arctic security together with all our allies while respecting the territorial integrity of Denmark and Greenland.
“Tariffs would harm both Europe and the US. They do not serve anyone. We are working closely with our European partners and allies.”
Elsewhere Finnish president Alexander Stubb, who famously bonded with Trump over their shared love of golf, wrote on social media. “Tariffs would undermine the transatlantic relationship and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”
“Among allies, issues are best resolved through discussion, not through pressure.”
Here is our video report from yesterday’s protests in both Greenland and Denmark against Donald Trump’s insistence the US should take control of the self-governing territory
Earlier this week my colleague Tom Burgis published a fantastic profile on Ronald Lauder, which is included in this week’s six great reads of the week round-up. Lauder is a longtime friend of Donald Trump and the man who first proposed Arctic expansion to him.
Heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics fortune, he is now making deals in the island. The piece explores the reasons behind Trump and Lauder’s fixation with Greenland.
Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat, in pursuit of his goal of seizing Greenland, is a political nightmare for European leaders, but it could create a severe economic headache, too.
As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has repeatedly pointed out since Trump’s trade war began in earnest last year, whatever the ultimate level of tariffs, uncertainty takes its own toll.
And as IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva put it in October, in the Trump era, “uncertainty is the new normal”.
Businesses tend to hold back from new investment when they are unsure what the policy landscape will eventually look like – as the UK learned to its cost during several years of Brexit wrangling after the 2016 referendum.
And this latest threat comes just as businesses in the UK and the EU believed they could plan with certainty, after much-vaunted trade deals with the US were struck and signed with ceremony last summer.
If Trump goes ahead with 10% tariffs in February – rising to a punitive 25% on 1 June – it will throw sand in the wheels of the economy at a fraught moment, with France deep in a budgetary crisis, and Germany hoping for an economic upturn after stagnating in 2025.
For UK chancellor Rachel Reeves, the timing could not be worse, just as she had cause to hope for a modest upturn after a difficult 12 months.
Yet, ironically, one of the most significant risks of Trump’s latest tantrum lies at home, with the threat of resurgent prices.
Germany and its European partners will not be “blackmailed” by Donald Trump, German finance minister and vice chancellor Lars Klingbeil said on Sunday, after the US president announced additional tariffs to pressure Europe in the Greenland dispute.
Germany will always extend a hand to the US to find common solutions but Berlin cannot go along with Washington on this point, Klingbeil said in a statement.
“And so the very clear signal: we will not be blackmailed, and there will be a European response,” he added.
Donald Trump’s threat to impose fresh tariffs on eight European countries – UK, Norway and six EU member states – is a wrecking ball to the carefully stitched deals he concluded with those countries last summer.
The two biggest voting blocs in the European parliament, the European People’s Party (EPP) and the Socialists & Democrats (S&Ds), said on Saturday night the deal with the EU cannot be approved in the present circumstances.
Trump’s threat also disregards the fact that individual member states do not have individual trade deals with the US. All EU international trade deals are conducted centrally through Brussels, as was the case last summer.
The EU-US trade deal was agreed under considerable pressure from Trump at his Scottish golf course last July. However, while it has entered into force in the US, the 0% tariffs promised to the US have yet to be legally ratified in the EU.
“The EPP is in favour of the EU-US trade deal, but given Donald Trump’s threats regarding Greenland, approval is not possible at this stage,” said Manfred Weber, the leader of the EPP. “The 0% tariffs on US products must be put on hold.”
Kathleen Van Brempt, vice-president for trade for the S&Ds, said there could be “no trade deal under [the] given circumstances”.
Later on Saturday, the liberal voting bloc Renew said it would join attempts to halt the ratification of the US trade deal.
Thousands of Greenlanders carefully marched across snow and ice to take a stand against Donald Trump on Saturday. They held signs of protest, waved their national flag and chanted “Greenland is not for sale” in the face of increasing threats of an American takeover.
Just as they finished their trek from the small downtown of Greenland’s capital city, Nuuk, to the US consulate, the news broke that Trump had announced he would charge a 10% tariff on eight European countries from February over their opposition to US control of Greenland.
“I thought this day couldn’t get any worse, but it just did,” Malik Dollerup-Scheibel said after the Associated Press told him about Trump’s announcement. “It just shows he has no remorse for any kind of human being now.”
Dollerup-Scheibel, a 21-year-old Greenlander, and the Greenland prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, were among what others described as the island’s biggest protest, drawing nearly a quarter of Nuuk’s population.
Others held rallies and solidarity marches across the Danish realm, including in Copenhagen, as well as in the capital of the Inuit-governed territory of Nunavut in Canada’s far north.
“This is important for the whole world,” a Danish protester, Elise Riechie, said as she held Danish and Greenlandic flags in Copenhagen. “There are many small countries. None of them are for sale.”
In Nuuk, Greenlanders of all ages listened to traditional songs as they walked to the consulate. Marie Pedersen, a 47-year-old Greenlander, said it was important to bring her children to the rally “to show them that they’re allowed to speak up”.
“We want to keep our own country and our own culture, and our family safe,” she said.
Her nine-year-old daughter, Alaska, crafted her own “Greenland is not for sale” sign. The girl said her teachers have addressed the controversy and taught them about Nato at school.
“They tell us how to stand up if you’re being bullied by another country or something,” she said.
France’s president Emmanuel Macron will ask the European Union to activate its powerful “anti-coercion instrument” if the United States imposes tariffs in the standoff over Greenland, his team said on Sunday.
The bloc’s weapon – never used before and dubbed its trade “bazooka” – allows for curbing imports of goods and services, and has been invoked as a way to push back over tech and trade, and now the Danish territory US president Donald Trump wants to acquire, AFP reported.
It comes after Germany’s engineering association also called on the European Commission to consider using the instrument (see post 10.07).
“If the EU gives in here, it will only encourage the US president to make the next ludicrous demand and threaten further tariffs,” VDMA President Bertram Kawlath said in a statement.
Irish foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee has slammed a threat of US tariffs on a number of EU member states, the UK and Norway as “completely unacceptable and deeply regrettable”.
“Peace and security depend on all UN member states abiding by the fundamental principles of the UN Charter,” she said.
“There can be no lasting peace and security in a world where these principles are ignored and undermined.
“Ireland has been crystal clear that the future of Greenland is a matter to be determined by Denmark and by the Greenlandic people, in line with well-established democratic principles and international law.
“This is a position that will not change. Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states is non-negotiable. It is a fundamental principle of the United Nations Charter and of international law. It is what keeps all countries – large or small, militarily aligned or neutral – safe and secure.”
She added:
We are coordinating closely with our EU and wider European partners in response to this announcement. The only way forward to resolve issues of concern to the US, or to any other country, is through respectful engagement.
Denmark and Greenland have confirmed on multiple occasions that they are open to proactive constructive dialogue on all issues.
Italy’s prime minister called US president Donald Trump’s threat to slap tariffs on opponents of his plan to seize Greenland a “mistake” on Sunday, adding she had told him her views.
“I believe that imposing new sanctions today would be a mistake,” prime minister Giorgia Meloni told journalists during a trip to Seoul, adding that “I spoke to Donald Trump a few hours ago and told him what I think.”
Keir Starmer said Donald Trump’s decision to impose 10% tariffs on the UK and seven other European countries over Greenland was “completely wrong”.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said: “Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, The United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland have journeyed to Greenland, for purposes unknown … This is a very dangerous situation for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet.”
The UK prime minister said on Saturday evening: “Our position on Greenland is very clear – it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and its future is a matter for the Greenlanders and the Danes.
“We have also made clear that Arctic security matters for the whole of Nato and allies should all do more together to address the threat from Russia across different parts of the Arctic.
“Applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of Nato allies is completely wrong. We will of course be pursuing this directly with the US administration.”
The Guardian
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