Trump threatens tariffs on nations that ‘don’t go along’ with Greenland plans

President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to place tariffs on countries that object to his demands to acquire Greenland — the same day a bipartisan group of lawmakers is in Denmark for an official visit that aims to reassure their NATO ally despite the administration’s push to annex the Arctic territory.

Trump has spoken of his desire for the United States to own Greenland since his first term in office. In his second presidential term, he has pressed his case for the U.S. annexation of Greenland — a self-governing territory that remains part of the Danish realm — further, claiming this week that it’s crucial for U.S. national security purposes and saying the Golden Dome missile defense system he wants to build requires the strategic Arctic location.

During ad-lib remarks at a rural health care roundtable at the White House, Trump told attendees, “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security.”

The White House didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.

When U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was asked in a CNBC interview Friday if Trump would move forward with the threatened import taxes, Greer said, “Presidents for decades have always used sanctions authorities to address geopolitical matters.”

“Tariffs [are] just in the long line of tradition of presidents using American geopolitical power to achieve American geopolitical goals,” Greer added.

On Wednesday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen was at the White House for discussions with the Trump administration about the fate of Greenland, saying the meeting was “frank but also constructive” and that the two parties still have “a fundamental disagreement.” In an apparent response to Trump’s security criticisms, Denmark and Greenland said Wednesday that there would be “an expanded military presence in and around Greenland” in cooperation with NATO allies.

During the meeting, the U.S. did not offer a proposal to purchase Greenland or increase the U.S. military presence there, according to a Danish diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The discussion was mostly focused on the president’s concern about security. U.S. representatives at the meeting did not raise potential commercial projects to tap Greenland’s rare earth metals, which the president had previously suggested were one reason the U.S. needed to acquire Greenland, the diplomat said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a separate request for comment on what was discussed at the meeting.

The idea of the U.S. owning Greenland remains persistently unpopular with Americans, and the escalating threats against Greenland have also drawn criticism from several members of Congress, including Republicans.

As Trump threatened tariffs over the Greenland annexation, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) was on the first day of an official congressional delegation visit to Copenhagen. The trip, Coons’s office said in a statement, aims to “highlight bipartisan support for our allies in the Kingdom of Denmark.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), previewing his message in Copenhagen, told reporters this week that he was going to remind the Danes “that we have coequal branches of government and I believe that there are a sufficient number of members — whether they speak up or not — that are concerned with this.” A Senate aide with knowledge of the trip, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the planning around the visit while not authorized to speak publicly, said the trip was “certainly a reassurance tour.”

While there, the aide said, the lawmakers will seek to draw attention to Denmark’s role as America’s partner — including fighting alongside U.S. forces during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — and to “correct the record” that there could be an imminent conflict over Greenland.

Many members of Congress agree with the Trump administration that access to Greenland, and the Arctic region overall, is a vital U.S. national security interest. But many lawmakers also argue that there is no reason, including missile defense, that the U.S. needs to own the territory — and that threatening to seize it risks undercutting alliances that keep Americans safe.

Some lawmakers are trying to block the administration from taking Greenland by force.

Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced a bill this week that would withhold U.S. government funding for any operation that seeks to exert control over the territory of a NATO ally.

“I hope it’s ultimately not necessary, but we are operating in times where we’re having conversations about things that we never thought even possible,” Murkowski told reporters Wednesday after she and other senators met with Denmark’s foreign minister and other Danish and Greenlandic officials in Washington.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said he had drafted a war powers resolution to block the administration’s threats to use military force against Greenland that he will introduce if necessary. And Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) introduced a symbolic resolution on Thursday to reaffirm the U.S. government’s “respect for the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland.”

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• Michael Birnbaum contributed.