Overview
- President Trump said imports from Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland will face an extra 10% tariff from February 1, rising to 25% on June 1 unless a full sale of Greenland is agreed.
- Trump framed the move as a national‑security necessity to block Russian and Chinese influence and criticized European reconnaissance teams in Greenland as creating a “very dangerous situation,” while saying the United States is open to negotiations.
- EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned the tariffs would risk a “dangerous downward spiral,” as European capitals coordinated positions and weighed potential trade countermeasures using the bloc’s anti‑coercion tools.
- A Danish‑led reconnaissance mission is under way in Greenland; Germany confirmed 15 Bundeswehr personnel arrived to assess conditions for joint exercises with NATO partners.
- Thousands demonstrated in Copenhagen and Nuuk against the U.S. plan, and visiting U.S. lawmakers in Denmark signaled opposition and said they would raise the issue with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.