Trump says he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the
US controlling Greenland
[January 17, 2026]
By DANIEL NIEMANN and DARLENE SUPERVILLE
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Friday
that he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the U.S.
controlling Greenland, a message that came as a bipartisan Congressional
delegation sought to lower tensions in the Danish capital.
Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a
semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this
week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would
be “unacceptable.”
During an unrelated event at the White House about rural health care, he
recounted Friday how he had threatened European allies with tariffs on
pharmaceuticals.
“I may do that for Greenland too,” Trump said. “I may put a tariff on
countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need
Greenland for national security. So I may do that,” he said.
He had not previously mentioned using tariffs to try to force the issue.
Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in
Washington this week with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of
State Marco Rubio.
That encounter didn’t resolve the deep differences, but did produce an
agreement to set up a working group — on whose purpose Denmark and the
White House then offered sharply diverging public views.
European leaders have insisted that is only for Denmark and Greenland to
decide on matters concerning the territory, and Denmark said this week
that it was increasing its military presence in Greenland in cooperation
with allies.
A relationship that ‘we need to nurture’
In Copenhagen, a group of senators and members of the House of
Representatives met Friday with Danish and Greenlandic lawmakers, and
with leaders including Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
Delegation leader Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, thanked the
group’s hosts for “225 years of being a good and trusted ally and
partner” and said that “we had a strong and robust dialogue about how we
extend that into the future.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, said after meeting lawmakers
that the visit reflected a strong relationship over decades and “it is
one that we need to nurture.” She told reporters that “Greenland needs
to be viewed as our ally, not as an asset, and I think that’s what
you’re hearing with this delegation.”
The tone contrasted with that emanating from the White House. Trump has
sought to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover by repeatedly claiming
that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds
vast untapped reserves of critical minerals. The White House hasn’t
ruled out taking the territory by force.
[to top of second column]
|
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to promote investment
in rural health care in the East Room of the White House, Friday,
Jan. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“We have heard so many lies, to be honest and so much exaggeration
on the threats towards Greenland,” said Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic
politician and member of the Danish parliament who took part in
Friday’s meetings. “And mostly, I would say the threats that we’re
seeing right now is from the U.S. side.”
Murkowski emphasized the role of Congress in spending and in
conveying messages from constituents.
“I think it is important to underscore that when you ask the
American people whether or not they think it is a good idea for the
United States to acquire Greenland, the vast majority, some 75%,
will say, we do not think that that is a good idea,” she said.
Along with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, Murkowski
has introduced bipartisan legislation that would prohibit the use of
U.S. Defense or State department funds to annex or take control of
Greenland or the sovereign territory of any NATO member state
without that ally’s consent or authorization from the North Atlantic
Council.
Inuit council criticizes White House statements
The dispute is looming large in the lives of Greenlanders.
Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said on Tuesday
that “if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark
here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO. We choose the
Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU.””
The chair of the Nuuk, Greenland-based Inuit Circumpolar Council,
which represents around 180,000 Inuit from Alaska, Canada,
Greenland, and Russia’s Chukotka region on international issues,
said persistent statements from the White House that the U.S. must
own Greenland offer “a clear picture of how the US administration
views the people of Greenland, how the U.S. administration views
Indigenous peoples, and peoples that are few in numbers.”
Sara Olsvig told The Associated Press in Nuuk that the issue is “how
one of the biggest powers in the world views other peoples that are
less powerful than them. And that really is concerning.”
Indigenous Inuit in Greenland do not want to be colonized again, she
said.
___
Superville reported from Washington. Emma Burrows in Nuuk, Greenland
and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
