EU to hold emergency summit on Trump’s tariff threat over Greenland
In a letter to Norway, Trump expressed his anger in not being recognized for his peace efforts
European Union leaders will convene in Brussels on Thursday for an emergency summit following U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to impose new tariffs on several EU countries over his demand to acquire Greenland, a European Union spokesperson said Monday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, at an emergency press conference on Monday in London, said he would use “the full strength of government” to try to stop the U.S. decision after privately telling Trump the previous day that he was “wrong” on the issue.
Starmer said the alliance with the United States had provided security and prosperity to Britain for decades, and said he would work to maintain those strong ties and defuse the tensions around Greenland, which have thrown the future of NATO into doubt.
Asked if he thought Trump was genuinely considering military action with respect to Greenland, Starmer said, “I don’t, actually. I think that this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion.”
Trump has threatened tariffs on eight countries that sent small numbers of military personnel to Greenland last week, following the U.S. president’s repeated statements that he wanted to take over Denmark’s vast Arctic island.
Trump said the tariffs of 10 per cent would go into effect on Feb. 1 and rise to 25 per cent on June 1.
Starmer said he had spoken to Trump on Sunday and told him that those forces were “clearly there to assess and work on risk from the Russians.”
Trump angered by Nobel decision
The second Trump administration’s aggressive statements have caused confusion and consternation, as a 1951 agreement between the U.S. and Denmark gives Washington the right to move around freely and construct military bases in Greenland, as long as Denmark and Greenland are notified.
Among the eight countries facing a new threat of tariffs is Norway. Trump has told Norway’s prime minister he no longer feels obligated “to think purely of Peace” because he had not been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, and he repeated his demand for control of Greenland, in a letter seen by Reuters.
“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” Trump wrote in the letter.
The letter came in response to a brief message to Trump from Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and Finnish President Alexander Stubb opposing his decision to impose tariffs on European allies over their refusal to let the U.S. take control of Greenland, Stoere said in a statement.
Stoere said he had repeatedly told Trump that the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the peace prize, is independent and that Norway’s government has no control over it.
Trump has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, which last year was awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
Machado gave Trump her gold medal during a White House meeting last week, though the Norwegian Nobel Committee has said the prize cannot be transferred, shared or revoked.
While Trump’s assertion that he stopped several world wars last year is contentious, it is also true that the deadline for nominees for the prize won by Machado was Jan. 31, 2025, less than two weeks into Trump’s second term as president.
In his letter, Trump again questioned Danish sovereignty over Greenland, saying, “Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway?
“There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also.”
“The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland,” Trump added.
‘Europeans project weakness’: U.S. Treasury Secretary
Greenland is strategically important because as climate change causes the ice to melt, it opens up the possibility of shorter trade routes to Asia. That also could make it easier to extract and transport untapped deposits of critical minerals.
When asked on Monday to comment on Trump’s remarks about the alleged Russian threat, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there has been a lot of “disturbing information” lately but that the government would not comment on the alleged Russian designs on Greenland.
Its importance for security, which Trump has asserted, has been debated.
Russia’s foreign ministry last week said that it was unacceptable for the West to keep claiming that Russia and China were a threat to Greenland.
In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the Chinese government was urging the U.S. to “stop using the so-called threat from China as a pretext to pursue its own selfish interests.
White House officials have added fuel to the fire by not rejecting the possibility of military action, and by supporting Trump’s stance in the face of continued resistance in Europe.
“I believe that the Europeans will understand that this is best for Greenland, best for Europe and best for the United States,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press.
“Europeans project weakness. U.S. projects strength,” Bessent said at another point.
In Washington, several members of Trump’s Republican Party have expressed concerns with the White House’s aggressive posture on Greenland, but the options to put a check on the president are limited.
Sen. Mitch McConnell warned last week that an attempt to seize Greenland would “shatter the trust of allies” and be a disastrous foreign policy decision that would tarnish Trump’s legacy.
‘Commercial blackmail’
The other countries subject to the Trump tariff threats are Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
While the Trump administration has made common cause with the right-wing nationalist parties of Europe, those of Germany and France have criticized the U.S. president over the Greenland issue.
Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France, posted on social media that the EU should suspend last year’s tariff deal with the U.S., describing Trump’s threats as “commercial blackmail.”
With files from CBC News and the Associated Press
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Carney says he spoke with China’s Xi about Greenland, Arctic sovereignty, The Canadian Press
Denmark: Analysis-Denmark sets a military tripwire. It’s a message to Trump more than Russia or China, CBC News
Finland: Finland preparing to send two liaison officers to Greenland, Yle News
Greenland: New Italy Arctic policy adds U.S. Greenland ambitions to growing Arctic competition narrative, Eye on the Arctic
Iceland: NATO chief to Arctic Allies: “We’re all frontline states now,” as Iceland’s role grows, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: “We want to be Europe’s most integrated region in terms of defence”, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Russia claims first-ever North Pole aerial refuelling, TASS reports, Reuters
Sweden: Swedish military to Greenland ahead of exercise, Radio Sweden
United States: Alaska’s Murkowski wants to reassure Denmark, but it’s not clear Congress is with her, CBC News
