COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP): U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he may punish countries with tariffs if they donÔÇÖt back the U.S. controlling┬áGreenland, a message that came as a bipartisan Congressional delegation sought to lower tensions in the Danish capital.
Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be ÔÇ£unacceptable.ÔÇØ
Military vessel HDMS Ejnar Mikkelsen of the Royal Danish Navy patrols near Nuuk, Greenland, on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) People walk on a beach in Nuuk, Greenland, on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) During an unrelated event at the White House about rural health care, he recounted Friday how he had threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals.
ÔÇ£I may do that for Greenland too,ÔÇØ Trump said. ÔÇ£I may put a tariff on countries if they donÔÇÖt go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that,ÔÇØ he said. He had not previously mentioned using tariffs to try to force the issue. Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in Washington this week with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
That encounter didnÔÇÖt resolve the deep differences, but did produce an agreement to set up a working group ÔÇö on whose purpose Denmark and the White House then offered sharply diverging public views. European leaders have insisted that is only for Denmark and Greenland to decide on matters concerning the territory, and Denmark said this week that it was increasing its military presence in Greenland in cooperation with allies.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to promote investment in rural health care in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) A relationship that ÔÇÿwe need to nurtureÔÇÖ In Copenhagen, a group of senators and members of the House of Representatives met Friday with Danish and Greenlandic lawmakers, and with leaders including Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
Delegation leader Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, thanked the groupÔÇÖs hosts for ÔÇ£225 years of being a good and trusted ally and partnerÔÇØ and said that ÔÇ£we had a strong and robust dialogue about how we extend that into the future.ÔÇØ Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, said after meeting lawmakers that the visit reflected a strong relationship over decades and ÔÇ£it is one that we need to nurture.ÔÇØ
She told reporters that ÔÇ£Greenland needs to be viewed as our ally, not as an asset, and I think thatÔÇÖs what youÔÇÖre hearing with this delegation.ÔÇØ The tone contrasted with that emanating from the White House. Trump has sought to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals.
The White House hasnÔÇÖt ruled out taking the territory by force. ÔÇ£We have heard so many lies, to be honest and so much exaggeration on the threats towards Greenland,ÔÇØ said Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic politician and member of the Danish parliament who took part in FridayÔÇÖs meetings. ÔÇ£And mostly, I would say the threats that weÔÇÖre seeing right now is from the U.S. side.ÔÇØ Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska., arrives as members of the Danish Parliament and a Greenlandic committee meet with American Congress members at the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.
(Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP) Murkowski emphasized the role of Congress in spending and in conveying messages from constituents. ÔÇ£I think it is important to underscore that when you ask the American people whether or not they think it is a good idea for the United States to acquire Greenland, the vast majority, some 75%, will say, we do not think that that is a good idea,ÔÇØ she said.
Along with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, Murkowski has introduced bipartisan legislation that would prohibit the use of U.S. Defense or State department funds to annex or take control of Greenland or the sovereign territory of any NATO member state without that allyÔÇÖs consent or authorization from the North Atlantic Council.
Inuit council criticizes White House statements The dispute is looming large in the lives of Greenlanders. GreenlandÔÇÖs prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said on Tuesday that ÔÇ£if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO.
We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU.ÔÇØÔÇØ The chair of the Nuuk, Greenland-based Inuit Circumpolar Council, which represents around 180,000 Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and RussiaÔÇÖs Chukotka region on international issues, said persistent statements from the White House that the U.S. must own Greenland offer ÔÇ£a clear picture of how the US administration views the people of Greenland, how the U.S. administration views Indigenous peoples, and peoples that are few in numbers.ÔÇØ
Sara Olsvig told The Associated Press in Nuuk that the issue is ÔÇ£how one of the biggest powers in the world views other peoples that are less powerful than them.
And that really is concerning.ÔÇØ Indigenous Inuit in Greenland do not want to be colonized again, she said.
Publish Date: January 17, 2026
Feedback