Trump’s Greenland bid might force EU to stop placating him and fight back
Trump’s Greenland tariff threat sparks anger and tests US-EU ties as the bloc mulls how to respond to Washington’s sabre-rattling
US President Donald Trump’s fixation on Greenland offers an ice-cold reminder to leaders in Europe and abroad: no deal is ever final.
Trump announced a 10 per cent tariff, rising to 25 per cent in June, on eight European nations, including Denmark, for saying they would undertake token Nato military exercises in Greenland in response to US sabre-rattling.
While the tariffs are not certain to take effect, the threat was a brazen escalation and insult to close US allies, trampling over the US-EU trade deal reached only six months earlier at Trump’s Turnberry resort in Scotland.
Trump’s targets in Europe pushed back quickly. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer blasted his tariff threat as “completely wrong”, France’s Emmanuel Macron called it “unacceptable” and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country would not be “blackmailed”.
A senior European lawmaker called for a halt to a US-EU trade truce sealed with Trump in July, and EU national ambassadors will meet on Sunday to discuss the bloc’s next steps, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The tariff missive also underscored several emerging lessons of the second Trump administration: nothing is out of reach of negotiations, alliances are met with suspicion and power and leverage are king.