In a post on Truth Social, Trump said 10 per cent tariffs would come into effect on February 1 on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland. <\/p>\n
Those tariffs would increase to 25 per cent on June 1 and would continue until a deal is reached for the US to purchase Greenland, Trump said. <\/p>\n
“World Peace is at stake! China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing Denmark can do about it,” Trump added. He went on to claim Greenland is only protected by two dogsleds.<\/p>\n
The UK\u2019s leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch said Donald Trump was \u201ccompletely wrong\u201d to impose the tariffs.<\/p>\n
The US president has been eyeing up a US takeover of Greenland since taking office last January, having first posed the idea during his first term. Denmark and its European allies have been firmly opposed to the proposal. <\/p>\n
<\/a>EU planning response, says EU Council president<\/p>\n We\u2019ve now heard from European Council president Antonio Costa, who said the EU was very firm in defending international law, in response to a question about new tariff threats from US president Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Mr Costa added that he was coordinating an EU response on the issue.<\/p>\n “What we can say is that the European Union will always be very firm in defending international law, wherever it may be, which of course begins within the territory of the member states of the European Union,” Mr Costa told a press conference shortly after Trump\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n “For now, I am coordinating a joint response from the member states of the European Union on this issue,” he continued.<\/p>\n Alex Croft17 January 2026 18:36<\/p>\n <\/a>‘These tariffs will hurt us,’ says Farage<\/p>\n The leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, is the latest to respond to Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs announcement.<\/p>\n Writing on social media, he said: \u201cWe don\u2019t always agree with the US government and in this case we certainly don\u2019t. These tariffs will hurt us.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Greenland is vulnerable to malign influences, then have another look at Diego Garcia.\u201d<\/p>\n Alex Croft17 January 2026 18:21<\/p>\n <\/a>Starmer’s US policy ‘in tatters’ with Trump ‘punishing UK’, says Lib Dem leader<\/p>\n The leader of the UK\u2019s Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey, has said Donald Trump is \u201cpunishing\u201d the UK.<\/p>\n Writing on social media, he said: \u201cStarmer\u2019s US policy lies in tatters. Trump is now punishing the UK and Nato allies just for doing the right thing.<\/p>\n \u201cTime for the PM to stand firm against the bully in the White House, and work with European and Commonwealth allies to make him back down from this reckless plan.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019re still waiting to hear from prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and other European leaders of countries that now face tariffs. <\/p>\n Alex Croft17 January 2026 18:07<\/p>\n <\/a>Analysis | Embarrassment for Starmer\u2019s failed charm offensive<\/p>\n The Independent\u2019s political correspondent Millie Cooke writes:<\/p>\n Donald Trump\u2019s plan to slap tariffs on the UK is a major blow for Starmer.<\/p>\n Not only was foreign policy perhaps the only area where the government was seen to be performing relatively well, but the PM now faces accusations of having appeased the volatile US president, an approach which critics will say has only emboldened Trump.<\/p>\n Already, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey – a vocal critic of the government\u2019s foreign policy – has come out and warned Starmer\u2019s foreign policy \u201clies in tatters\u201d, calling for the PM to finally \u201cstand firm against the bully in the White House\u201d.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not just optics that will be a major blow for the prime minister. The UK\u2019s ailing economy is in an extremely fragile state, with figures published this week showing we had growth of just 0.3 per cent in November.<\/p>\n There were hopes the country\u2019s precarious finances had started to show the green shoots of recovery. But there\u2019s no doubt that 10 per cent tariffs across the board will put a significant dampener on hopes of an economic comeback.<\/p>\n Starmer will now be attempting to salvage the wreckage, in hopes that the good relationship he has built with Trump can be leveraged to negotiate a carve out for Britain.<\/p>\n But as Trump has shown time and time again, sharing warm words with the US president means very little when it comes to his foreign policy.<\/p>\n Alex Croft17 January 2026 17:56<\/p>\n <\/a>The US and Greenland are in \u2018disagreement\u2019. Here are three ways it could end<\/p>\n A \u201cfundamental disagreement\u201d persists. This was the only concrete outcome of the meeting at the White House between US, Danish and Greenlandic officials on January 14, as each side maintained its original position on Greenland\u2019s sovereignty. The Trump administration argued that the US has to take direct control of the island, while both Danish and Greenlandic officials firmly rejected the idea.<\/p>\n This was perhaps to be expected. The recently released US National Security Strategy made one thing very clear: US foreign policy is now defined by an assertive approach towards the entire Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n Washington claims the right to intervene in other countries\u2019 domestic affairs \u2013 even militarily, if necessary \u2013 in order to guarantee US strategic and corporate interests.<\/p>\n Professor of International Relations Michele Testoni writes, before Trump\u2019s tariff announcement:<\/p>\n Alex Croft17 January 2026 17:47<\/p>\n <\/a>In pictures: Large anti-Trump protests in Copenhagen and Nuuk Alex Croft17 January 2026 17:38<\/p>\n <\/a>Trump says US control of Greenland necessary for world peace<\/p>\n In his Truth Social announcement, Donald Trump has framed his tariffs as an effort to guarantee world peace. <\/p>\n China and Russia, he says, both want Greenland – which he says cannot protect itself. <\/p>\n \u201cOnly the United States of America, under PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, can play in this game, and very successfully, at that! Nobody will touch this sacred piece of Land, especially since the National Security of the United States, and the World at large, is at stake. <\/p>\n He also noted visits to Greenland by European officials, which he said took place for \u201cpurposes unknown\u201d. <\/p>\n The UK announced it had sent a military officer to Greenland as Denmark stepped up its military presence in the Arctic and High North. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is a very dangerous situation for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet. These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable,\u201d the US president added. <\/p>\n \u201cTherefore, it is imperative that, in order to protect Global Peace and Security, strong measures be taken so that this potentially perilous situation end quickly, and without question.\u201d<\/p>\n Alex Croft17 January 2026 17:32<\/p>\n <\/a>Why does Trump say the US ‘needs’ Greenland?<\/p>\n Donald Trump first proposed US control over Greenland in 2019, towards the end of his first sting as president. <\/p>\n At the time, the idea was turned down and described as \u201cabsurd\u201d by Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen. <\/p>\n But why is the US president so insistent that Washington should purchase the semi-autonomous Danish territory?<\/p>\n Greenland\u2019s Arctic location is key: Greenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with more than two-thirds of its territory lying within the Arctic Circle. That has made it crucial to the defence of North America since the Second World War.<\/p>\n Rare earth minerals: Greenland is a rich source of the so-called rare earth minerals that are a key component of mobile phones, computers, batteries and other hi-tech gadgets that are expected to power the world\u2019s economy in the coming decades. <\/p>\n US military presence in Greenland: The US Department of Defence operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which was operated by the US after they and Denmark signed the Greenland Defence Agreement in 1951. It supports missile warning, missile defence and space surveillance operations for the US and Nato.<\/p>\n Security threats to the Arctic: In 2018, China declared itself a \u201cnear-Arctic state\u201d in an effort to gain more influence in the region. China has also announced plans to build a \u201cPolar Silk Road\u201d as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative. Meanwhile, Russian president Vladimir Putin has said Russia is worried about Nato\u2019s activities in the Arctic and will respond by strengthening its military capability in the polar region. <\/p>\n Alex Croft17 January 2026 17:19<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lebanon_EU_43288.jpg\")
(Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All right reserved)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Sir-Ed-Davey-press-conference-7corpqal.jpeg\")
(PA)<\/p>\n![\"Thousands](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2256740236.jpg\")
Thousands demonstrated outside the US embassy in Copenhagen (Getty Images)![\"Hundreds](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Greenland-And-Europe-Hope-To-Avert-U-S--Intervention-To-Acquire-Greenland-uwvcj8f6.jpeg\")
Hundreds also demonstrated in Greenland\u2019s largest city, Nuuk (Getty Images)![\"Trump](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2256744980.jpg\")
Trump says US control is necessary for world peace (Getty Images)![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Protesters-rally-in-Copenhagen-in-solidarity-with-Greenland-v781q2j0.jpeg\")
(REUTERS)<\/p>\n![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ae59ff58af90be7ad2ab7f1a72338071Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzY4NzU1MDY2-2.82915078.jpg\")
US president Donald Trump has said America wants to buy Greenland (PA Wire)<\/p>\n
![\"Conservative](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/78fc7f405364a95c05132623b9c9c746Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzY4Njg3NDgw-2.83078087.jpg\")
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said Britain is \u2018a great country with deep reserves of strength, talent and resilience\u2019 (Jane Barlow\/PA) (PA Wire)<\/p>\n