![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/president-donald-trump-speaks-during-a-tour-of-the-ford-rive-FLMIYAIXAZCT5LUUJB3LBZ5JDQ.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe eight European countries targeted by US President Donald Trump for a 10% tariff for opposing American control of Greenland have blasted the move, warning that his threats \u201cundermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.\u201d<\/p>\n
The joint statement by some of America\u2019s closest allies signalled a possible turning point in the recent tensions over sovereignty and security nearly 24 hours after Trump\u2019s threat.<\/p>\n
It was also the most forceful rebuke of Trump from the European allies since he returned to the White House almost a year ago. In recent months, Europeans have mostly opted for diplomacy and flattery around him, even when seeking an end to the war in Ukraine. <\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s statement, as well as some European countries sending troops to Greenland for a Danish military training exercise, appeared to be a step away from that strategy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump speaks during a tour of the Ford River Rogue complex in Dearborn, Mich. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
The unusually strong joint statement from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland said troops sent to Greenland for operation \u201cArctic Endurance\u201d pose \u201cno threat to anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Standing in solidarity with Denmark and Greenland<\/p>\n
Trump’s Saturday announcement sets up a potentially dangerous test of US partnerships in Europe. He appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks over the status of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that he regards as critical to US national security.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland,” the group said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBuilding on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind. Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.\u201d<\/p>\n
The US president says they need the semiautonomous territory of Denmark \u201cfor national security\u201d. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
There are immediate questions about how the White House could try to implement the tariffs because the European Union is a single economic zone in terms of trading. <\/p>\n
It was unclear, too, how Trump could act under US law, though he could cite emergency economic powers that are currently subject to a US Supreme Court challenge.<\/p>\n
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said China and Russia will benefit from divisions between the US and Europe. <\/p>\n
She added in a post on social media: \u201cIf Greenland\u2019s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity.”<\/p>\n
![\"Greenlandic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/greenlandic-prime-minister-jens-frederik-nielsen-speaks-duri-JDULGGEYYZGADD6UL2HFMRX2YU.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen speaks during a protest against Trump’s policy towards Greenland (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
Europe has been trying to keep Trump on its side to ensure US support for Ukraine, including Washington sharing intelligence with Kyiv and its involvement in security guarantees if a peace agreement is reached with Russia.<\/p>\n
Rasmus S\u00f8ndergaard, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, called Trump\u2019s announcement \u201cunprecedented\u201d because tariff threats normally stem from trade disagreements, not territorial disputes between allies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s of course why we\u2019re seeing the response from European countries saying \u2019enough is enough,\u2019\u201d he told The Associated Press. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s in part probably a strategic calculation, of course, from the governments in these countries that if you give in to Trump on this, what will be the next thing? And at some point you have to sort of push back.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Fishermen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/fishermen-load-fishing-lines-into-a-boat-in-the-harbor-of-nu-XLV6CXHNCNG3JJNMGXI5O4DKJ4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Fishermen load fishing lines into a boat in the harbor of Nuuk, Greenland. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
S\u00f8ndergaard also said Trump levelled the playing field for Europe with the tariff threat. Europeans cannot compete militarily, but the EU can wield an economic weapon through reciprocal tariffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe EU has the ability to really strike back with force if they want to, and it will hurt European economies,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt will hurt American economies. The challenge for Trump is he has midterms coming up and it\u2019s not going to help him if the US goes into more of an economic recession or more of a economic turmoil than is already the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump’s move was also panned domestically.<\/p>\n
US Sen. Mark Kelly, a former US Navy pilot and Arizona Democrat, said Trump\u2019s threatened tariffs on US allies would make Americans \u201cpay more to try to get territory we don\u2019t need.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTroops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,\u201d Kelly wrote on social media. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn\u2019t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former US Vice President Mike Pence said he supports the United States ultimately owning Greenland, but not how Trump is trying to accomplish it.<\/p>\n
He said he had concerns whether Trump had the constitutional authority to impose unilateral tariffs on NATO allies, as well as about a threat of a military invasion. Trump\u2019s current position threatens \u201cto fracture that strong relationship, not just with Denmark, but with all of our NATO allies,\u201d Pence said on CNN\u2019s \u201cState of the Union.\u201d<\/p>\n
Populist allies of Trump criticise the tariff threat<\/p>\n
Six of the countries targeted are part of the 27-member EU, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trading. <\/p>\n
It was not immediately clear if Trump’s tariffs would impact the entire bloc. EU envoys scheduled emergency talks Sunday evening to determine a potential response.<\/p>\n
The tariff announcement also drew blowback from Trump’s populist allies in Europe.<\/p>\n
Italy\u2019s right-wing premier, Giorgia Meloni, considered one of Trump\u2019s closest allies on the continent, said she had spoken to him about the tariffs, which she described as \u201ca mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
The deployment to Greenland of small numbers of troops by some European countries was misunderstood by Washington, Meloni said, adding it was not a move against the US but aimed to provide security against \u201cother actors\u201d that she didn\u2019t identify.<\/p>\n
Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen\u2019s far-right National Rally party in France and a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year\u2019s tariff deal with the US, describing Trump\u2019s threats as \u201ccommercial blackmail.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump also achieved the rare feat of uniting Britain\u2019s main political parties \u2014 including the hard-right Reform UK party \u2014 all of whom criticised the tariff threat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t always agree with the US government and in this case we certainly don\u2019t. These tariffs will hurt us,\u201d said Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a longtime champion and ally of Trump. His social media post stopped short of criticizing Trump’s designs on Greenland.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who leads the centre-left Labour Party, said the tariffs announcement was \u201ccompletely wrong\u201d and his government would \u201cbe pursuing this directly with the US administration.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The eight European countries targeted by US President Donald Trump for a 10% tariff for opposing American control…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[65,42,43,64,40,38,41,39,1745],"class_list":["post-240110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-uk-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}