US President Donald Trump has assured that he could impose an increase in tariffs on countries that do not accept his plans to take control of Greenland, arguing that the island is central to US interests.
“I may impose a tariff on countries that don’t accept Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do it,” Trump said at a roundtable on rural health care.
Since his return to the White House in January 2025, the Republican has used tariffs as a political tool against his trading partners, raising rates on imports from Brazil and India by up to 50%, in retaliation for the treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro and the purchase of Russian crude oil, respectively.
The president’s words come after Denmark, on which the autonomous territory of Greenland depends, announced an immediate increase in its military presence on the island and the carrying out of maneuvers, in order to reduce Washington’s concerns about the security of that island nation and the Arctic region.
France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the Netherlands have joined the initiative and have also sent or will send troops to Greenland, coveted by the Trump Government with the argument of reinforcing its “national security” and preventing it from falling into the hands of China or Russia.
The White House assured this Thursday that these movements do not affect Trump’s objective of controlling Greenland, also rich in precious metals and rare earths, “at all.”
The Danish Government has insisted on the sovereignty of the island and rejected Washington’s claims, although it committed to creating a working group with the Trump Cabinet to address “disagreements” on the issue.
