President Donald Trump said Friday that he may impose tariffs on any country that doesn’t support the United States acquisition of Greenland.
While Trump has repeatedly said that he would like to take over Greenland for national security purposes, Denmark has rebuffed those calls, which currently controls the Arctic island. Trump suggested Friday he may impose some form of economic penalty on countries that block his plans.
“I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland because we need Greenland for national security,” Trump said during a roundtable discussion on rural health care. “So, I may do that.”
Trump’s comments come after a Wednesday meeting between Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.
After that meeting, Rasmussen indicated that Denmark would not budge on giving up Greenland. He said that the meeting was “frank and constructive,” but ultimately the sides agreed to disagree, with Denmark sticking firm to its “red lines.”
Trump later said on Friday that he was working with NATO on getting Greenland.
“NATO has been dealing with us on Greenland. We need Greenland for national security very badly. If we don’t have it, we have a hole in national security, especially when it comes to what we’re doing in terms of the Golden Dome and all of the other things,” he said.
Trump said on Sunday that Greenland would fall under the control of Russia or China if the United States did not step in.
“If we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will take Greenland, and I am not going to let that happen,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One. “I’d love to make a deal with them. It’s easier. But one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland.”
Trump said that Greenland’s security consisted of “two dog sleds” while Russian and Chinese submarines and destroyers encircled the island.
Trump’s rhetoric on Greenland has largely been opposed by Democrats and some Republicans. A delegation of senators, including Chris Coons (DE), Thom Tillis (NC), and Lisa Murkowski (AK), traveled to Denmark on Friday to back Denmark’s control of Greenland.
“The signals are clear,” Murkowski said. “I think you will find that support in Congress to acquire Greenland in any way is not there.”
