U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Friday he might impose tariffs on countries that do not support the U.S. controlling Greenland. The statement came during an unrelated White House event focused on rural health care, where Trump recounted threatening European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

Trump stated, "I may do that for Greenland too. I may put a tariff on countries if they don't go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that." This marks the first time Trump has publicly mentioned using tariffs as a tool to acquire the Arctic island.

For months, Trump has asserted the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to Denmark, a NATO ally. He stated earlier in the week that anything less than U.S. control of the island would be unacceptable. His interest in Greenland has been met with resistance from Danish officials.

Earlier in the week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in Washington with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. While the meeting did not resolve the existing disagreements, it did result in an agreement to establish a working group to address the issue. A bipartisan Congressional delegation also sought to ease tensions in Copenhagen.

The prospect of tariffs adds a new layer of complexity to the already strained relationship between the U.S. and Denmark over Greenland. The potential economic implications of such tariffs remain unclear, as does the specific criteria Trump would use to determine which countries are "going along" with his plans. The White House has not released further details regarding the proposed tariffs.