Greenland at any cost, even at the risk of a trade war with Europe and undermining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In a message posted on his Truth Social account on Saturday, January 17, US President Donald Trump announced a new round of punitive measures after Denmark and the authorities of the autonomous territory, which is under Danish sovereignty, refused to meet his demands concerning annexation.
The US president targeted eight European countries – Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland – accusing them of playing “a very dangerous game” by showing solidarity with Copenhagen through symbolic military deployments in Greenland. As a result, Trump said he would impose additional punitive tariffs of 10% against these nations starting February 1 and increase them to 25% as of June 1, unless an agreement is reached for a “complete and total purchase” of the Arctic territory.
Faced with what he called a “potentially perilous situation” in regards to European countries defending the sovereignty of one of their own, Trump claimed to be making moves to “protect global peace and security.” He argued the European countries were showing ingratitude toward the United States, given all the past and present expenditures made to protect them. He repeated the highly dubious national security argument to justify his ambitions, citing supposed territorial ambitions from China and Russia, which have never actually been declared. He also once again mentioned the still vague and grandiose Golden Dome, a multi-layered missile defense project.
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