Trump says he may hike tariffs on countries that “don’t go along with” U.S. efforts to acquire Greenland

Washington — President Trump said Friday he may hike tariffs on countries that decline to “go along with” his administration’s efforts to acquire Greenland, as Denmark, Greenland and other NATO allies remain staunchly opposed to his plans to acquire it. 

“I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security,” the president said during a roundtable about rural health care. “So I may do that.” 

He didn’t mention a specific rate in his threat, although he had just been discussing 25% tariffs. The president’s comments came two days after the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a meeting the Danes had requested in order to “take down the temperature” on the rhetoric, as Denmark’s foreign minister said Wednesday. 

But the president and top administration officials and aides have continued to talk about acquiring Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark. The White House has not ruled out the use of military force to take the island, despite the warning by Denmark that doing so would be seen as a threat to the NATO alliance. NATO countries have been deploying troops to Greenland since Thursday for exercises to help support the island. 

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is in Copenhagen Friday to discuss the concerns the people of Denmark and Greenland have about the Trump administration’s acquisition threats. The leaders of Denmark and Greenland stated that U.S. acquisition of Greenland is not an option. 

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Wednesday the idea that the U.S. wouldn’t respect the territorial integrity of Denmark is “totally unacceptable.”