Senior EU official calls Trump’s Greenland tariff threat a mistake

DAVOS, Switzerland – The European Union’s top official on Tuesday described new tariffs that US President Donald Trump plans to impose on Greenland as a “mistake” between long-time allies and raised questions about Trump’s credibility, while French President Emmanuel Macron said the situation could prompt the European Union to deploy one of its most powerful retaliatory tools.

While anger over Trump’s desire to control the vast Arctic island was the focus of an annual meeting of the elite in Switzerland, Greenland’s leader insisted on respecting its territorial integrity and said respecting international law was “not a game.”

He watches: Europe stands firmly against Trump’s effort to annex Greenland, and he threatens to impose new tariffs

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen responded to Trump’s announcement that, starting in February, a 10% import tax would be imposed on goods from eight European countries that have rallied around Denmark in the wake of his escalating calls for the United States to seize Greenland. The Arctic island is a semi-autonomous region of Denmark, a NATO ally.

“The European Union and the United States agreed to a trade agreement last July,” von der Leyen said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “And in politics as in business – a deal is a deal. When friends shake hands, it must mean something.”

She added: “We consider the people of the United States not only our allies, but our friends. Plunging us into a downward spiral will only help the very adversaries we are so committed to keeping out of the strategic landscape.”

She pledged that the European Union’s response “will be consistent, united and proportionate.”

Trump, who will speak in Davos on Wednesday and said on social media that he had agreed to a “cross-party meeting” there, insisted that the United States needed the region for security reasons against potential threats from China and Russia.

Earlier on Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said America’s ties with Europe remained strong and urged trading partners to “take a deep breath” and allow the tensions that led to threats of new tariffs on Greenland “to continue.”

“I think our relations have never been closer,” he said.

But Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in the Danish parliament that “the worst may still be ahead of us.” “We have never sought conflict. We have constantly sought cooperation,” she said.

“Not a game”

“We need to respect international law and territorial integrity,” Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens Fredrik Nielsen insisted at a news conference in the island’s capital, Nuuk. He said that these principles should unite Western democratic countries, and expressed his gratitude for the support provided by the European Union’s allies.

“International law is not a game,” he said. “We have been a close and loyal ally of the United States and NATO for many years. We can do a lot in this framework. We are ready to cooperate much more, but of course in the framework of mutual respect, and if we cannot see that, it will be very difficult to have a good and reliable partnership.”

The US leader’s threats have sparked anger and a flurry of diplomatic activity across Europe, where leaders are considering possible countermeasures, including retaliatory tariffs and the first-ever use of the EU’s anti-coercion tool.

The anti-coercion tool, informally known as the “trade bazooka”, could impose sanctions on individuals or institutions found to be exerting undue pressure on the EU. In addition, the EU has two other major economic tools it can use to pressure Washington: new tariffs, or suspension of the US-EU trade deal.

Macron warned in Davos that additional tariffs could force the EU to use its anti-coercion mechanism “for the first time” against the United States.

“Can you imagine that?” He said, considering that allied countries should focus on bringing peace to Ukraine. “This is crazy.”

He said that the mechanism in general is “a powerful tool and we should not hesitate to use it in today’s difficult environment.”

He watches: Besant says it would be “extremely unwise” for Europe to retaliate against Trump’s threats over Greenland

Trump had previously published a text message from Macron in which the French President suggested holding a meeting of members of the Group of Seven Industrialized Democracies in Paris after the Davos meeting. An official close to Macron, speaking anonymously in line with normal practice for the French presidency, confirmed that the message Trump shared was genuine.

In his latest tariff threat, Trump suggested that the import taxes would be retaliation for last week’s deployment of symbolic numbers of troops from European countries to Greenland — although he also suggested that he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark.

Newsom urges Europe to show ‘backbone’

Speaking on the sidelines of Davos, California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized Europe’s response to Trump’s tariff threats as “pathetic” and “embarrassing,” and urged European leaders to unite and stand up to the United States.

“It’s time to get serious and stop being complicit,” Newsom told reporters. “It’s time to stand tall and firm, and have a backbone.”

Greenland’s European backers are looking to establish a more sustainable military presence in the Far North to help ensure security in the Arctic region, a key US demand, Swedish Defense Minister Pall Johnson said on Monday evening.

European members of NATO are currently conducting “what is called a reconnaissance tour in order to determine what kind of needs there are when it comes to infrastructure, training and so on,” Johnson said after talks with his counterparts from Denmark, Greenland and Norway.

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov strongly denied any intention by Russia and China to threaten Greenland, while also describing Greenland as a “colonial gain” for Denmark. “In principle, Greenland is not a natural part of Denmark,” he told a press conference.

Tensions between the United States and the United Kingdom over the Chagos Islands

In another sign of tension between the allies, the British government on Tuesday defended its decision to hand over sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after Trump attacked the plan that his administration had previously supported.

Trump said abandoning the remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean, which includes a strategically important US naval base and bombers, was a stupid act that demonstrated why he needed to control Greenland.

In a speech to lawmakers in the British Parliament on Tuesday, US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said he hoped to “calm the waters” as Trump muddies transatlantic relations with his desire to control Greenland.

Johnson said the United States and the United Kingdom “have always been able to resolve our differences calmly as friends. We will continue to do so.”

Emma Burrows reported from Nuuk, Greenland. AP writers Sylvie Courbet in Paris, Jill Lawless in London and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.