President Donald Trump on Saturday said the United States would impose escalating tariffs on eight European countries as part of a pressure campaign to secure a deal allowing Washington to purchase Greenland.
The move intensified a widening dispute with European allies over the future of the Arctic island, an autonomous territory of Denmark, and raised new concerns about trade relations and security ties within NATO.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said an additional 10 percent tariff would take effect on February 1 on goods imported from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, and Britain.
Those tariffs would rise to 25 percent on June 1 and remain in place until the United States reached an agreement to acquire Greenland.
The affected countries are already subject to tariffs imposed earlier by the administration.
Trump argued that Greenland is vital to U.S. security because of its strategic location and mineral resources and reiterated that he has not ruled out the use of force to take control of the island.
“These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable,” Trump wrote.
He added that the United States was “immediately open to negotiation with Denmark and/or any of these Countries that have put so much at risk.”
Trump also linked the tariff decision to recent European military deployments to Greenland, which were carried out at Denmark’s request.
European governments have largely backed Denmark, warning that any U.S. military seizure of territory within NATO could severely damage the alliance.
Britain has publicly expressed its support for Denmark amid the dispute.
Former NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen criticized the focus on Greenland, arguing it distracted from more pressing global security challenges.
Protests were held on Saturday in Denmark and Greenland, where demonstrators opposed Trump’s demands and called for the island’s future to be determined by its own population.
According to a poll published in January 2025, 85 percent of Greenland’s residents oppose joining the United States, while only six percent support the idea.
The tariff threat marks the latest escalation in a standoff that now spans trade, security, and sovereignty, with European leaders warning of lasting consequences if tensions continue to intensify.