Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks throughout a media convention on the EU Summit in Brussels, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025.
Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP
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Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP
In a placing collective rebuke to President Trump, the leaders of Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK issued a joint assertion Sunday condemning current U.S. tariff threats tied to army actions they’ve taken in Greenland.
Within the assertion, leaders of the eight nations underscored their dedication to shared NATO objectives, saying that they stood in “full solidarity” with Denmark and Greenland. Additionally they reaffirmed their willingness to “engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity” in response to President Trump’s repeated threats to take management of Greenland, which is at present an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
On Saturday evening, President Trump had written on his Reality Social platform that he would impose tariffs on imports from the eight nations. Trump’s phrases got here after the nations, that are all in NATO, deployed army personnel to Greenland in current days, to take part in a Danish-led Arctic train often called ‘Arctic Endurance’.
Trump mentioned America would levy a ten p.c tariff on items from the eight nations beginning on February 1. He claimed these tariffs would rise to 25 p.c on June 1, and stay in place “until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland” by the US.
Of their joint response, the eight NATO nations mentioned that Trump’s proposed tariffs “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”
“As members of NATO, we are committed to strengthening Arctic security as a shared transatlantic interest,” the leaders mentioned. “The pre-coordinated Danish exercise ‘Arctic Endurance’ conducted with Allies, responds to this necessity. It poses no threat to anyone.”
The coordinated assertion displays an unusually specific diplomatic pushback by key U.S. allies. As well as, some particular person European leaders issued their very own particular person criticisms.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the usage of tariffs towards allies, calling it “completely wrong”. A spokesman for the UK Prime Minister later mentioned Starmer had shared this view with President Trump in a cellphone name on Sunday. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson mentioned Sweden wouldn’t be “blackmailed,” whereas Norway’s prime minister pressured that “threats have no place among allies.”
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen additionally made a press release, praising “great support” from European allies. “I am pleased with the consistent messages from the rest of the continent: Europe will not be blackmailed,” Frederiksen mentioned.
European overseas coverage leaders made clear that commerce coercion would hurt the broader transatlantic relationship and probably derail different ongoing negotiations.
One unnamed French official near International Minister Jean-Noël Barrot informed NPR that Paris had mobilized its diplomatic equipment “to coordinate a European response to the new, unacceptable tariff threats issued by President Trump.”
The official added that Barrot had been in talks along with his British, German and EU counterparts and was in touch with all affected overseas ministers and European Parliament political teams.
Odd residents have additionally registered their opposition to President Trump’s current threats, with giant protests in Denmark and Greenland towards American strain alongside the broader NATO debates about Arctic safety in addition to the diplomatic scramble.
In his social media submit on Saturday, Trump framed Europe’s actions as a part of “a very dangerous situation” and argued the tariffs had been vital to guard “Global Peace and Security” – language that has been extensively challenged by European officers and analysts as exaggerated or unfounded given the context of NATO cooperation within the Arctic.
This newest tariff standoff follows weeks of more and more assertive U.S. rhetoric concerning Greenland and Arctic coverage. Trump has repeatedly declared Greenland — an unlimited, sparsely populated territory — as strategically important to U.S. nationwide safety, citing its location and untapped mineral sources.
Greenlandic and Danish leaders have constantly pushed again, insisting the territory shouldn’t be on the market, most lately throughout discussions between the 2 nations’ overseas ministers and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Domestically, the tariff choice has sparked pushback not solely overseas however amongst U.S. lawmakers. Bi-partisan voices in Congress have criticized the method as damaging to NATO cohesion, and warned that it might jeopardize U.S. credibility.
Analysts have identified that the US already maintains a army presence in Greenland, which has shrunk dramatically over the many years, and so query the need of coercive financial measures tied to territorial ambitions.
