Trump threatens tariffs on Greenland, countries that oppose US takeover

Multi-colored traditional Greenlandic homes in Nuuk, Greenland, are seen from the water on March 29, 2025. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump threatened Friday to place tariffs on Greenland and any country that opposes his efforts to take over the Arctic island, as members of Congress from both political parties were in Europe to assure allied nations that lawmakers won’t go along with his plans. 

“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,” Trump said. “So I may do that.”

Trump has been increasingly focused on acquiring Greenland during his second term in the Oval Office and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier this month that “utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal.”

Lawmakers not on board

Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been skeptical or outright opposed to Trump’s aspirations for Greenland, a territory of Denmark, which is a NATO ally.

Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Maine independent Sen. Angus King, co-chairs of the Senate Arctic Caucus, met with officials from Denmark this week to try to reassure the country’s leaders. 

King wrote in a statement after the meeting that “the Denmark and Greenland coalition reiterated to us that they are fully prepared to cooperate with the United States in any way to expand our national security presence in Greenland – an agreement which goes back 75 years.” 

“It was a very productive meeting and I’m hopeful that the administration will finally realize that taking Greenland over by a military force is almost unthinkable — to attack essentially a NATO ally,” King added. “That would be the greatest gift to (Russian President) Vladimir Putin that this country could possibly bestow.”

Murkowski wrote that the “United States, Denmark and Greenland should be able to count on each other as partners in diplomacy and national security.”

“Respect for the sovereignty of the people of Greenland should be non-negotiable, which is why I was grateful for the opportunity to engage in direct dialogue with Foreign Ministers from Denmark and Greenland,” Murkowski wrote. “Meetings like the one held today are integral to building stronger relationships with our allies that will continue to endure amid a shifting geopolitical landscape.”

House speaker derides ‘media narrative’

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a press conference this week that he hasn’t heard any plans for military action in Greenland at any briefings he’s attended and that he believes “this is a media narrative that’s been created.”

Johnson said he doesn’t “anticipate any boots on the ground anywhere anytime soon,” though he added the United States does have national security and critical mineral interests in Greenland. 

“Greenland is of strategic importance, its geography and everything else. So look, again, you have to wait for that to play out. I’m going to leave it to the administration to articulate it how they will,” Johnson said. “But I think what the president is articulating is something that everybody objectively has to acknowledge, that Greenland has strategic significance to us and also to other countries around the world, so we need to play that very seriously.”

A bipartisan congressional delegation was in Denmark on Friday to communicate to leaders of that country and Greenland that they don’t support Trump’s efforts. 

Lawmakers on the trip include Delaware Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, Murkowski, New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, as well as Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean, Maryland Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer, California Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs, Delaware Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride and New York Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks.