Trump says he can impose taxes if the US does not support the country that controls Greenland

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he could punish countries with tariffs if they don’t support U.S. control over Greenland, a message that came as a bipartisan congressional delegation sought to ease tensions in the Danish capital.

Trump has said for months that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semi-autonomous region 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 White House event on rural health care, he explained Friday how he threatened European allies with tariffs on medicine.

“I could do the same for Greenland,” Trump said. “I can impose tariffs on countries that don’t go with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I can 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 with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington this week.

That meeting did not resolve deep differences, but did produce an agreement to establish a working group—the purpose of which Denmark and the White House proposed to sharply diverge public opinion.

European leaders have insisted that Denmark and Greenland are the only ones to decide on matters related to the region, and Denmark said this week that it is increasing its military presence in Greenland with the help of 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 leaders, including Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredriksson.

Delegation leader Sen. Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, thanked the group’s organizers for “225 years of good and reliable allies and partners” and said that “we had a strong and robust dialogue about how we can expand this into the future.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said after meeting with lawmakers that the visit reflects a strong relationship that has existed for decades and “is something we need to nurture.” “Greenland needs to be seen as our ally, not as an asset, and I think you’re hearing that with the delegation,” she told reporters.

The tone contrasted with that coming from the White House. Trump has repeatedly sought to justify his calls for a US takeover by claiming that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of vital minerals. The White House has not ruled out taking territory by force.

“We have heard a lot of lies, to be honest and a lot of exaggeration in the threats towards Greenland,” Aja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic politician and member of the Danish parliament, attended Friday’s meetings. “And mostly, I’d say the threats we’re seeing now are from the American side.”

Murkowski emphasized the role of Congress in spending and conveying messages to constituencies.

“I think it’s important to highlight that when you ask the American people whether they think it’s a good idea for the United States to get Greenland, the vast majority, about 75%, will say, we don’t think it’s a good idea,” she said.

Along with New Hampshire Democrat Sen. G.N. Shaheen, Murkowski has introduced bipartisan legislation that would prohibit the use of U.S. Defense or State Department funds to annex or control the sovereign territory of Greenland or any NATO member state without the allies’ consent or authorization from the North Atlantic Council.

Inuit Council criticizes White House statement

Controversy looms large in the lives of Greenlanders. “If we had to choose here and now between the United States and Denmark, we would choose Denmark. We would choose NATO. We would choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We would choose the EU,” Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said Tuesday.

Nook, president of the Greenland-based Inuit Circumpolar Council, which represents about 180,000 Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia’s Chukotka region in international affairs, said the White House’s continued statement that the U.S. should own Greenland “presents a clear picture of how the U.S. administration views the people of Greenland and the minority of people. The numbers.”

Sarah Olswig told The Associated Press in Nook that “it’s an issue of how the world’s greatest power views other people who are less powerful than itself. And that’s really troubling.”

Greenland’s indigenous Inuit don’t want to be colonized again, she said.

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Superville reported from Washington. Emma Burroughs in Nook, Greenland, and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.