Trump’s ‘Tariff Bomb’ on 8 EU Countries Over Greenland Issue

Darwin, 18 January: U.S. President Donald Trump has increased commercial pressure on eight European countries for opposing the handover of Greenland to the United States.

He announced that a 10% tariff will be imposed on goods from these countries—including France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Sweden—starting February 1.

Trump also warned that if Denmark does not sell Greenland to the United States by June, tariffs on products from the countries concerned will be raised to 25%.

The U.S. news agency Associated Press (AP) reported this information on Sunday.

According to the report, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social: “If the process of buying Greenland is not completed by June, tariffs will be increased to 25% starting June 1.”

Meanwhile, European countries have made it clear that the sole authority to decide Greenland’s future lies with Denmark. In response to the situation, Denmark has already begun strengthening its military presence in Greenland with troops from European allies.

However, the U.S. president’s office claims that increased European military presence will have no impact on America’s plans to establish control over Greenland.

Public anger has already erupted in Denmark. On Saturday, thousands of people took to the streets of the capital, Copenhagen, in protest. They chanted slogans such as “Greenland is not for sale” and “We will decide our own future.”

Trump is scheduled to travel to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday. There, he may come face to face with European leaders whom he has threatened with tariffs that could take effect in just over two weeks.

According to AP, the threat of tariffs could signal a troubling rift between Trump and the United States’ long-standing NATO allies—a coalition founded in 1949 to provide collective security to Europe and North America—placing the alliance under further strain.

Trump has repeatedly used trade penalties to pressure both allies and rivals into complying with his demands. While this has drawn investment commitments from some countries, it has also provoked strong resistance from others, particularly China.

In a joint statement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa said that imposing tariffs would “weaken transatlantic relations and create the risk of a dangerous downward spiral.” They added that Europe would remain “committed to defending its sovereignty.”

Trump has long argued that the strategically important and mineral-rich island of Greenland should be owned by the United States. The island has a population of about 57,000, and its defense is the responsibility of Denmark.

Earlier this month, he renewed this demand a day after a military operation aimed at ousting Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.