Trump Says Eight European Countries Face 10% Tariffs Over Greenland

President Trump said Saturday that goods from eight European countries will face a 10 percent tariff starting in February because of their opposition to U.S. control of Greenland, a sharp escalation in a dispute that has strained relations with NATO allies. The countries are Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland, according to the Associated Press.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said the rate would rise to 25 percent on June 1 and stay in place until a deal is reached for what he called “the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland,” the AP reported. Al Jazeera put the start date at Feb. 1. He has pointed to Greenland’s role in the planned “Golden Dome” missile-defense system and has said Russia or China might try to take it, the AP reported.

It was not clear how the White House would carry out the tariffs. The AP quoted a European diplomat noting that the European Union operates as a single trade zone, and said Trump could cite emergency economic powers that face a Supreme Court challenge. No formal order had been issued.

European leaders responded quickly. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa said the tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a “dangerous downward spiral,” and that Europe would protect its sovereignty, the AP reported. French President Emmanuel Macron said, “No intimidation or threats will influence us.” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called the move a surprise, the AP said.

In Washington, the reaction crossed party lines. Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, said Congress should reclaim tariff authority so presidents cannot use it solely at their discretion, the AP reported. A bipartisan congressional delegation led by Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, was in Copenhagen to reassure Denmark and Greenland. Coons said there was no security threat that justified the administration’s position and that Greenland is part of Denmark, a NATO ally, according to Al Jazeera. The administration’s supporters point to the island’s strategic value in the Arctic, where Trump has argued that Denmark is not doing enough to protect its waters.

On the ground, protesters rallied in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg, Odense and Nuuk. Reuters reported that organizers estimated more than 20,000 people took part in Copenhagen, where demonstrators marched to the U.S. embassy chanting “Greenland is not for sale.” Police gave no official figure. In Nuuk, thousands led by Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen marched to the U.S. consulate, Reuters said, though the AP described the Nuuk crowd as hundreds marching in near-freezing rain. Julie Rademacher, who chairs the group Uagut for Greenlanders in Denmark, said the world “must wake up,” Al Jazeera reported.

Greenland has about 57,000 residents and is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, which handles its defense, according to the AP and Reuters. The AP noted that the U.S. has access under a 1951 defense agreement and that its military presence has shrunk from thousands of personnel at 17 bases to about 200 at Pituffik Space Base. Danish Maj. Gen. Soren Andersen, who leads the Joint Arctic Command, said Denmark does not expect an attack on Greenland by the U.S. or any NATO ally, and that he had seen no Chinese or Russian warships near the island, the AP reported. He described the European deployments as training.

Reuters reported that a Reuters/Ipsos poll found 17 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, and that Trump called the poll “fake.” Trump is scheduled to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he could meet some of the European leaders he has targeted, the AP said.