In the Greenland impasse, Trump announces new European tariffs, angering allies.
With a ten percent rate, the president stepped up his efforts to take control of Denmark and seven other European nations. On Saturday morning, President Trump shared his latest plan to take control of Greenland on social media.
He said that he would slap new tariffs on a group of European nations until they agreed to sell Greenland. Denmark, which has territory in Greenland, will impose a 10% tariff on all goods sent to the United States beginning in February. 1, In a social media post, Trump wrote.
NATO members Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland have shown solidarity with Denmark in its refusal to yield to Mr. The 10 percent tariff will also apply to Trump’s demands. He added that the rate will rise to 25% on June 1 “until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland” if those nations do not give in.
On Saturday, the united outrage of Europe’s leaders over Mr. Trump’s most recent threats against the enormous island in the North Atlantic. Additionally, lawmakers in Washington, some of whom belonged to the president’s own party, did the same. Furthermore, the sudden announcement of new tariffs appeared to throw a trade deal out the window, Mr. Trump’s deal with the European Union was seriously in question.
The post by Mr. Trump despite the fact that a 1951 agreement with Denmark gives the United States the right to expand its military presence in Greenland, Trump argued that the United States needed to control Greenland to protect itself from Chinese and Russian ambitions in the Arctic. The new threat from the president comes as the Supreme Court considers overturning the president’s likely legal authority to impose these tariffs.
In the coming weeks, the court will rule on Mr. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which Trump has used to threaten tariffs against a number of countries at will over the past year, is an emergency law. If the judge rules in Mr. Trump may not be able to impose such tariffs. After negotiating limited trade agreements with both governments last year, the United States now imposes a 10% tariff on British imports and a 15% tariff on EU imports.
It remains to be seen how other trading partners would react to the imposition of the new tariffs on top of that. Importers bear the costs of tariffs, which are frequently passed on to American consumers because the country of origin of the goods is not the payer. Yesterday, at a White House event about health care, Mr. Trump discussed doing something similar in public. He said, almost in parentheses, “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland.”
The 445-word post he published a day later contained striking language regarding American allies. It reinforced Mr.’s worldview.
Trump has advocated for decades the view that the United States has been cheated and that retaliation will take time. He wrote, “We have subsidized Denmark, all of the Countries of the European Union, and others, for many years by not charging them Tariffs, or any other forms of remuneration.” He was referring to Denmark, the European Union, and other nations. “World Peace is at stake! Now, after Centuries, it is time for Denmark to give back!” “All that we have done for them, including maximum protection, over so many decades” was what he wrote about.
The post and the threat of new tariffs it posed markedly increased Mr. Trump’s campaign of pressure, and European leaders swiftly responded on Saturday. “No intimidation or threat will influence us — neither in Ukraine, Greenland, nor anywhere else in the world when we are confronted with such situations,” the French president Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media.
He went on to say that “tariff threats are unacceptable” and that “if they are confirmed, Europeans will respond in a united and coordinated manner.” We will guarantee the protection of European sovereignty.
In a furious response, the Swedish prime minister stated, “We won’t allow ourselves to be blackmailed.” Questions affecting Denmark and Greenland are decided solely by Denmark and Greenland. “Applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of NATO allies is completely wrong,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement, adding, “We will of course be pursuing this directly with the US administration.”
The announcement on Saturday was denounced unanimously by the leaders of the main opposition parties in Britain. Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative Party, stated that Mr. Trump claimed that the tariffs were a “terrible idea” for both the United States and Britain and that he was “completely wrong.” Mr. Farage’s ally Nigel Farage On social media, Trump, whose populist right-wing Reform U.K. party leads British polls, made a rare statement opposing the president’s policies. We don’t always agree with the US government, and we certainly don’t in this instance.
We will be hurt by these tariffs,” he wrote. A. Lukas According to Lausen, the Danish Confederation of Industry’s director of global trade, the tariffs would cost jobs and raise prices on both sides of the Atlantic. Denmark and Greenland sent a delegation to Washington earlier this week to meet with Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Little progress was made. In a statement released on Saturday, Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen stated that the social media post by President Trump “comes as a surprise” and that Denmark was “close contact with the European Commission and our other partners on the issue.” Mr. Even Republicans in Washington were shocked by Trump’s post, and some of them spoke out on Saturday.
In a social media post, Nebraska Republican Representative Don Bacon referred to the move as “foolish policy” and compared it to something done by President Vladimir V. Russia’s Putin would do so. “I feel like it’s incumbent on folks like me to speak up and say these threats and bullying of an ally are wrong,” he said in an interview with CNN.
In addition, he predicted that if Mr. Trump used force to take over Greenland, he would lose a lot of support from his own base. He stated, “I want to let him know it’ll probably be the end of his presidency” “Just on the weird chance that he’s serious about invading Greenland.” “We’re going to stand up against it,” declares the majority of Republicans.
This week, a number of European nations, including France, sent troops to Greenland to participate in military exercises with Danish forces. This showed how serious the situation had gotten. On Saturday, North Carolina Republican senator Thom Tillis wrote on social media that the new tariffs were detrimental to “America, American businesses, and America’s allies.” It is advantageous for Putin, Xi, and other adversaries who desire a divided NATO. He went on to say that the persistence of coercion to “seize territory of an ally is beyond stupid” and “hurts the legacy of President Trump and undercuts all the work he has done to strengthen the NATO alliance over the years” were two additional arguments.
Alaskan Republican senator Lisa Murkowski wrote on social media that the new tariffs were “unnecessary, punitive, and a profound mistake” that would only “push our core European allies further away while doing nothing to advance U.S. national security.” Senior fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, said that the new tariffs would probably kill a deal Ursula von der Leyen, president of the executive arm of the European Union, had negotiated last year in Turnberry, Scotland, for 15% tariffs. He stated, “It means the end of the Turnberry deal, and we are in a fully-fledged trade war.”
“We are either in a real war or we are fighting a trade war.” He stated that Europeans would anticipate the Supreme Court’s decision regarding whether Mr. Trump’s tariffs are legitimate. He stated, “Maybe this will focus minds in the Supreme Court.” Even though they warned that tariffs would “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral,” Ms. von der Leyen and her coworkers attempted to calm the situation by emphasizing the importance of continuing the dialogue.
In a social media post, Ms. von der Leyen wrote, “The pre-coordinated Danish exercise, conducted with allies, responds to the need to strengthen Arctic security and poses no threat to anyone,” which was echoed by her colleague, António Costa, president of the European Council. He wrote, “The EU stands in complete solidarity with Denmark and the Greenland people.” “Dialogue remains essential, and we are committed to building on the process that the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States began last week.”
