Europeans panic as Trump threatens tariffs on 8 countries over Greenland dispute

Europeans have been in awe of President Trump on Sunday announcement that eight countries will face a 10% tax in opposition to US control of Greenland.

Answers to the decision of Mr. Trump has ranged from saying we risk a “dangerous descent” to predicting that “China and Russia must have a field day.”

The threat of Mr. Trump poses a potentially dangerous test of US relations in Europe. Several European countries have sent troops to Greenland in recent days, saying they are there for Arctic security training. The announcement of Mr. Trump arrived on Saturday as thousands of Greenlanders protested outside the US embassy in the capital, Nuuk.

The Republican president appeared to indicate that he is using the values ​​as a basis to force negotiations with Denmark and other European countries over the status of Greenland, a territory that is under NATO ally Denmark. vital to US national security. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Finland will face the tax.

The eight countries issued a joint statement on Sunday: “As members of NATO, we are committed to strengthening the security of the Arctic as a shared transatlantic interest. The pre-coordinated Danish Endurance ‘Arctic Endurance,’ carried out with the Allies, responds to this need. It poses no danger to anyone.”

The statement added: “We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland. Building on the process started last week, we are ready to participate in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind. Tax threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous decline in sovereignty.”

There are immediate questions about how the White House might try to implement tariffs, because the EU is a single economic zone in terms of trade. Norway and the UK are not part of the 27-member EU, and it was not immediately clear whether Mr. EU delegates have scheduled emergency talks on Sunday evening to find a possible answer.

It was not clear, either, that Mr. Supreme Court challenge.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that China and Russia will benefit from the separation between the US and Europe. He added in a social media post: “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can deal with this within NATO. Taxes risk impoverishing Europe and the United States and undermine our shared prosperity.”

The initiative of Mr. Trump is again focused on the inside.

Sen. Mark Kelly, a former US Navy pilot and Democrat representing Arizona, wrote that the tax threatened by Mr.

“Soldiers from European countries are pouring into Greenland to protect this place from us. Let them come inside,” he wrote in X. “The damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationship is increasing, making us less secure. If something does not change, we will be alone with enemies and enemies everywhere.”

A CBS News poll issued on Sunday found widespread opposition among Americans to buying Greenland or occupying it by military force. 76 percent said they would oppose the use of government funds to buy the land, while 86 percent said they would oppose its military takeover.

The announcement of the prices even withdrew the supporters of Mr. Trump in Europe.

Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni, who is considered one of Mr.

The sending of a small number of soldiers to Greenland by other European countries was not well understood by Washington, Meloni told reporters during a two-day visit to South Korea. He said the deployment of personnel was not an anti-US act but aimed at providing security to “other actors” he did not name.

Jordan Bardella, the president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally group in France and also a member of the European Parliament, suggested that the EU should suspend the tax agreement with the US last year, citing threats by Mr.

Mr. Trump also achieved the rare feat of uniting Britain’s main political parties – including the far-right Reform UK – all of whom denounced the tax threat.

“We don’t always agree with the US government and this time we don’t want to. This bill will hurt us,” said Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a long-time champion and ally of Mr. Trump, wrote on social media. Stop criticizing the designs of Mr. Trump in Greenland.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who leads the centre-left Labor Party, said the tax announcement was “absolutely wrong” and his government “will be following this directly with the US administration.”

The foreign ministers of Denmark and Norway are expected to discuss the crisis on Sunday in Oslo during a press conference.