{"id":416725,"date":"2026-01-19T13:34:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T13:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/416725\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T13:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T13:34:07","slug":"starmer-breaks-with-trump-over-completely-wrong-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/416725\/","title":{"rendered":"Starmer Breaks With Trump Over ‘Completely Wrong’ Threats"},"content":{"rendered":"

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has publicly broken ranks with U.S. President Donald Trump over his renewed pressure campaign for the annexation of Greenland<\/a>. Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on the U.K. and other European allies until Denmark relents and sells the territory of Greenland\u2014a move Starmer has labeled \u201ccompletely wrong.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

During a press conference at Downing Street on Monday morning, Starmer argued the use of tariffs against allies \u201cis not the right way to resolve differences within an alliance, nor is it helpful to frame efforts to strengthen Greenland\u2019s security as a justification for economic pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Referring to the matter as a \u201cvery serious situation,\u201d Starmer\u2014who rejected the idea of retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., for now at least\u2014said a \u201ctrade war is in no one\u2019s interest\u201d and emphasized that his priority is to act in the national interest of the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Greenland, the right way to approach an issue of this seriousness is through calm discussion between allies. Let\u2019s be clear, the security of Greenland matters and it will matter more as climate change reshapes the Arctic,\u201d said Starmer. \u201cAs sea routes open and strategic competition intensifies, the High North will require greater attention, greater investment, and stronger collective defence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.K. is ready to assist NATO allies on that front, Starmer vowed, before stating that no plan can be made without the involvement of Greenland and Denmark.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny decision about the future status of Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark alone. That right is fundamental, and we will support it,\u201d Starmer said, taking a clear stance against Trump\u2019s rhetoric, which includes the White House refusing to rule out taking Greenland by military force.<\/p>\n

\"UKU.S. President Donald Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce a tech agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference on Sept. 18, 2025, in Aylesbury, England. Leon Neal\u2014Getty Images<\/p>\n

Highlighting his wish for the strong alliance to continue, Starmer told reporters at Downing Street that the relationship between the U.K. and the U.S. \u201cmatters profoundly, not just to our security, but to the prosperity and stability that people here depend upon.\u201d He said he\u2019s determined to keep that relationship \u201cstrong, constructive, and focused on results.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, although a calm approach to the matter is preferred, in a show of strength at home, Starmer, who shared his disapproval personally with Trump during a phone call on Sunday, emphasized that \u201cbeing pragmatic does not mean being passive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump on Saturday said he would impose<\/a> a 10% tariff on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, and the United Kingdom beginning Feb. 1\u201con any and all goods sent to the United States of America.” He said the tariff would be increased to 25% on June 1.<\/p>\n

NATO chief Mark Rutte last week expressed the importance of \u201cthe Arctic and Arctic security,” and several European NATO allies committed to sending military personnel to Greenland amid heightened concerns over the territory. Trump appeared to reference this in his tariffs threat, citing that European nations \u201chave journeyed to Greenland, for purposes unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read More: The Republicans Breaking Ranks With Trump Over Greenland Threats: \u2018This Is Appalling\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

The eight countries threatened with the charges put on a united front over the weekend via a joint statement issued in response to Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cTariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. We will continue to stand united and coordinated in our response. We are committed to upholding our sovereignty,\u201d the statement read.<\/a><\/p>\n

However, Starmer\u2019s approach to Trump\u2019s threat\u2014and his disinterest in retaliatory tariffs\u2014may well differ from that of the E.U. leaders who are set to discuss ways forward during an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday, as arranged by president of the European Council<\/a> Ant\u00f3nio Costa.<\/p>\n

On Monday, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil and his French counterpart, Roland Lescure, weighed up various countermeasures at the disposal of the E.U., with Klingbeil asserting: “We will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read More Trump Declares Anything Less Than U.S. Control of Greenland Is \u2018Unacceptable\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

European tariffs on imports from the United States, a package of 93 billion euros ($107.7 billion) which is currently suspended until early February, could be enforced. Another option comes in the form of the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), which could restrict access to the single market in which the U.S. has a surplus with the bloc and block applications for E.U. contracts. Lescure noted that this avenue should serve as more of a deterrent, with deescalation seemingly remaining the ultimate shared goal among E.U. leadership.<\/p>\n

Trump, meanwhile, has refused to rule out leaving NATO over the Greenland tussle, and maintains that anything less than U.S. control of Greenland is \u201cunacceptable.\u201d<\/a> According to Trump, NATO \u201cshould be leading the way for [the U.S.] to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has publicly broken ranks with U.S. President Donald Trump over his renewed pressure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416726,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,12,3,7688,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-416725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-donald-trump","tag-news","tag-news-desk","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}