Europeans reel as Trump threatens tariffs on eight countries over Greenland dispute

Europeans were reeling Sunday over President Trump’s decision. advertisement that eight countries will face a 10% tariff for opposing US control of Greenland.

Responses to Trump’s decision ranged from saying he risked “a dangerous downward spiral” to predicting that “China and Russia must be having fun.”

Trump’s threat poses a potentially dangerous test for US partnerships in Europe. Several European countries have sent troops to Greenland in recent days, saying they are there for Arctic security training. Trump’s announcement came Saturday as thousands of Greenlanders wrapped up a protest outside the U.S. consulate in the capital, Nuuk.

The Republican president appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks with Denmark and other European countries over the status of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, which he considers critical to US national security. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would face the tariff.

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

The statement added: “We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland. Building on the process launched last week, we are ready to engage in dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we firmly support. Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. We will continue to be united and coordinated in our response. We are committed to defending our sovereignty.”

There are immediate questions about how the White House might try to implement the tariffs, because the EU is a single economic zone in terms of trade. Norway and the United Kingdom are not part of the 27-member EU, and it was not immediately clear whether Trump’s tariffs would affect the entire bloc. EU envoys scheduled emergency talks for Sunday night to determine a possible response.

It was also unclear how Trump might act under US law, although he could cite emergency economic powers that are currently subject to a Supreme Court Challenge.

Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” Domingo that “even if it is determined that it has tariff authority, I do not believe that it has the ability to impose tariffs in order to force other nations to sell the territory of the United States in order to expand.”

Turner added that “these are not just casual allies.”

“Of the other allies you’re talking about imposing tariffs on, seven of them are F-35 partners, three of them we have American nuclear weapons on their soil and five of them we have permanent troops on their soil,” Turner said. “These are very strong allies.”

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

Trump’s move was also criticized nationally.

Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on “Face the Nation” On Sunday he said that “the only countries that are frankly benefiting the most from this chaos are Russia and China.”

“There is currently no security threat from Russia or China to Greenland,” Warner said. “The only threat to Greenland’s security right now is the United States.”

Sen. Mark Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot and Democrat representing Arizona, posted that Trump’s threats of tariffs on U.S. allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”

“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend our territory. Let that sink in,” he wrote on

TO News themezone Poll published Sunday found widespread opposition among Americans to purchasing Greenland or taking it by military force. Seventy percent said they would oppose using federal funds to purchase the territory, and 86% said they would oppose taking it over militarily.

The tariff announcement even sparked negative reactions from Trump’s populist allies in Europe.

Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, considered one of Trump’s closest allies on the continent, said on Sunday that she had spoken to him about the tariffs, which she described as “a mistake.”

Washington misinterpreted the deployment of a small number of troops to Greenland by some European countries, Meloni told reporters during a two-day visit to South Korea. He said the deployment was not a measure against the United States but was intended to provide security against “other actors” which he did not name.

Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France and also a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year’s tariff deal with the United States and described Trump’s threats as “trade blackmail.”

Trump also managed the rare feat of uniting Britain’s main political parties, including the far-right Reform UK party, all of which criticized the tariff threat.

“We don’t always agree with the US government and in this case we certainly don’t. These tariffs will hurt us,” UK reform leader Nigel Farage, a longtime Trump supporter and ally, wrote on social media. He stopped short of criticizing Trump’s designs in Greenland.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who leads the centre-left Labor Party, said the tariff announcement was “completely wrong” and that his government would “pursue this directly with the US administration”.

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