President Donald Trump suggested Friday he might impose tariffs on countries that do not support the United States controlling Greenland. The statement came as a bipartisan Congressional delegation was in Copenhagen seeking to ease tensions with Denmark over the issue.
Trump, during an event at the White House concerning rural health care, recounted how he had previously threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals. He then 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 marked the first time Trump 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 short of U.S. control of the island would be unacceptable.
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. The purpose of this group was not immediately clear.
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