US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) said that he would "100%" proceed with his plans to impose tariffs on European countries unless a deal over Greenland is reached. In a telephonic interview by NBC news, the US president was asked if he will seize the land by "force," to which he replied, "no comment."
Trump also intensified his bid to seize control of Greenland from Denmark, a fellow Nato ally, prompting the European Union to consider potential countermeasures. The ongoing dispute also poses risk to destabilise the Nato alliance, which has long formed the backbone of Western security and is already under strain from the war in Ukraine and Trump’s position on allied defence spending, Reuters reported.
The threat has unsettled European industry and sent tremors through financial markets amid fears of a return to the volatility seen during the 2025 trade war, which only eased after tariff agreements were struck mid-year.
Trump’s remarks were supported by a text message he sent on Sunday to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, linking his stance on Greenland to the Nobel Peace Prize decision. “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” Trump wrote.
Norway’s government released the messages on Monday under the country’s freedom of information act. Stoere had first written on behalf of himself and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, urging de-escalation and proposing a call. Trump responded less than half an hour later.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, a decision that angered Trump.
In his message, Trump repeated his claim that Denmark is incapable of protecting Greenland from Russia or China. “… And why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway?” he wrote, adding: “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”
Last week on Saturday, Trump vowed to impose a rising wave of tariffs from February 1 on Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, as well as Britain and Norway, until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland, which has a population of about 57,000.
“We are living in 2026, you can trade with people, but you don’t trade people,” Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said during a visit to London on Monday.
Meanwhile, Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post that the territory must be free to determine its own future.
“We will not let ourselves be pressured. We stand firm on dialogue, on respect and on international law,” he said.
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