Europe’s top diplomats convened emergency talks after President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs tied to his push to take control of Greenland. Now, leaders are planning an extraordinary summit to coordinate a unified response.
The threat, aimed at eight close U.S. allies, has turned a tense standoff into a full-blown transatlantic showdown, with stakes for trade, NATO cooperation, and Greenland’s future.
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Europe’s alliance tested
European Union ambassadors met for hours in Brussels on Sunday to map out how to respond after Trump posted on Truth Social that the U.S. would impose a 10% tariff on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland starting Feb. 1. He said the tariff would rise to 25% in June unless these nations agree to talks over the sale of Greenland.
EU leaders are openly calling the ultimatum coercive and a threat to decades-old partnerships.
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The U.S. held serious discussions about purchasing Greenland in 1847 and 1910, and an official offer was made in 1946, but it was rejected.
“We remain united and coordinated in our defense of sovereignty,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X. She said the bloc will protect Denmark and Greenland’s territorial integrity.
Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, on Monday also took a public stand, calling Trump’s tariff threats against NATO allies “completely wrong” and warning a trade war is “in no one’s interest,” while insisting Greenland’s future belongs to its people and Denmark alone.
European Council President António Costa said he would convene an extraordinary summit of E.U. heads of state and government later this week to escalate the response.
Public outcry and protests
The dispute has spilled into the streets.
Thousands marched through Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, in freezing conditions over the weekend chanting “Greenland is not for sale.” Protests spread to Copenhagen and other Danish cities, as opposition hardened to any U.S. push to claim the island.
European leaders and citizens alike are treating the tariff threat as a sovereignty fight, not just a trade dispute. Danish and Nordic officials have publicly rejected the notion of selling or ceding control of Greenland.
NATO strains and strategic debate
The emergency talks are exposing new strain inside the Atlantic alliance.
NATO allies sent small contingents to Greenland last week for Operation Arctic Endurance, a defensive exercise meant to boost Arctic security, not to provoke a confrontation. Europe views that deployment as transparent and lawful.
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But Trump administration officials see it differently.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the strategy on Sunday, saying American control of Greenland would prevent future crises involving Russia or other powers.
“If there were an attack on Greenland from Russia, from some other area, we would get dragged in. So better now, peace through strength, make it part of the United States,” Bessent said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The European leaders will come around and they will understand that they need to be under the U.S. security umbrella.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed he spoke with Trump about the situation and said the issue would carry into meetings later this week in Davos, Switzerland.
A unified European front… for now
Early statements suggest Europe is closing ranks.
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK issued a joint warning that tariffs would “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”
French President Emmanuel Macron has urged the E.U. to prepare forceful countermeasures, including the activation of a seldom-used anti-coercion tool known in Brussels as the trade “bazooka.”
Critics warn Trump’s pressure campaign could weaken NATO and set off a retaliation that reshapes decades of cooperation.
The summit later this week now becomes the test: whether both sides find an off-ramp — or slide into a confrontation that could rewrite the Atlantic alliance.
