President Donald Trump positioned the annexation of Greenland as essential for U.S. and global security, even as European leaders voiced strong resistance during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Trump said that he planned to meet with European leaders and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum.
“As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security,” Trump said in a social media post. “There can be no going back – On that, everyone agrees!
Over the weekend, Trump warned that NATO allies who oppose his plans to acquire Greenland will face escalating tariffs: a 10% duty on all exports to the U.S. from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland beginning Feb. 1, rising to 25% by June 1. Trump has said the tariffs will remain in effect until Denmark hands over Greenland.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned European nations against retaliation.
“I tell everyone, sit back, take a breath, do not retaliate,” he said in Davos. “The president will be here tomorrow and he will get his message across.”
French President Emmanuel Macron denounced Trump’s plans to acquire Greenland. He said the “endless accumulation of new tariffs” is “fundamentally unacceptable.”
“Even more so when they are used as leverage against territorial sovereignty,” Macron said.
Macron also said the European Union “should not hesitate” to use an anti-coercion measure after Trump’s tariff threats over Greenland. The 27-nation bloc could sanction people and institutions found to be putting unreasonable pressure on the EU. The EU has never used the instrument, which has been called its “trade bazooka.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, speaking in Copenhagen on Tuesday, said the “worst may still be ahead of us.”
“We are now being threatened by our closest ally,” she told lawmakers in Denmark.
Trump said only the U.S. can protect Greenland.
“We are the only POWER that can ensure PEACE throughout the World – And it is done, quite simply, through STRENGTH!,” the U.S. president wrote in a social media post.
Trump also posted a text message from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in which Rutte said, in part, “I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland.”
Rutte previously tried to keep NATO out of Trump’s plans for Greenland.
Trump maintains that U.S. ownership of Greenland is crucial to national security. He argues that Denmark cannot protect the island’s mineral-rich territory from major powers such as China and Russia.
Public polling shows Greenlanders overwhelmingly oppose joining America.
Experts say as ice melts in the Arctic, more shipping and military ship routes could open in the region, changing the global trade and the defensive relationship between the U.S. and Russia. More mining and drilling exploration could also open up.
Buying the nation could cost U.S. taxpayers billions or trillions, depending on how the Arctic island is valued.
Greenland is almost entirely reliant on fishing and Danish subsidies of about $1 billion a year. Earlier this month, Denmark’s central bank found Greenland faces “challenges for public finances in the form of large deficits and a long-term sustainability problem.” That report noted that investment in Greenland is expensive and supported by taxpayers in Denmark. Total investments amounted to 36% of gross domestic product in 2023. Gross domestic product is a measure of a nation’s total economic activity.
In 1867, when President Andrew Johnson bought Alaska, he also considered buying Greenland. The U.S. also tried to buy Greenland in 1946. The United States proposed to pay Denmark $100 million in gold to buy Greenland, according to documents in the National Archives. The sale never went through, but the U.S. got the military base it wanted on the island.
Pituffik Space Base, previously known as Thule Air Base, is located in Greenland. Pituffik SB is locked in by ice nine months out of the year, but the airfield is open and operated year-round. Pituffik exists due to agreements between the U.S. and the Kingdom of Denmark, specifically addressing mutual defense, according to the Space Force.
