President Donald Trump announced he’s taking his threat of Feb. 1 tariffs over Greenland off the table. Trump said he backed down after he and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte worked out “the framework of a future deal” on Greenland and the Arctic.
“This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations,” Trump wrote on Truth Social from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Trump also said negotiations are ongoing over plans for a “Golden Dome” to protect the U.S. from long-range missiles.
‘I won’t use force’
The tariff announcement came hours after Trump used his speech at Davos to say he wouldn’t try to take Greenland by force. However, he reiterated his insistence that the U.S. take control of semiautonomous territory of Denmark, declaring that Greenland is “our territory” and demanding “immediate negotiations” for a U.S. takeover.
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Even as he pledged not to use the military to seize control of Greenland, Trump spoke expansively about what would happen if he did.
“We never asked for anything, and we never got anything, we probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be, frankly, unstoppable,” he said. “But I won’t do that.”
“I don’t have to use force,” he added. “I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland.”
He also ramped up pressure on Europe, saying the U.S. “will remember” if its leaders don’t agree to his push to take over Greenland.
“We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won’t give it,” Trump said. “We’ve never asked for anything else, and we could have kept that piece of land, and we didn’t.”
“You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative,” he said, addressing European leaders, “or you can say no, and we will remember.”
His comments come after the president was questioned Tuesday on how far he would go to take Greenland. His response was “you’ll see.”
He justified his desire to take the island, saying the U.S. needs it “for national security and even world security.”
However, four times during his speech, Trump incorrectly referred to taking Iceland, Greenland’s neighbor in the North Atlantic, according to The Washington Post.
Tariff threat
Trump’s initial effort to persuade European countries to allow the U.S. to take Greenland involved imposing a 10% tariff on imports from eight European countries on Feb. 1 and would increase the levy to 25% on June 1, “due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.”
After he announced the tariffs, European leaders met on Sunday for emergency meetings to discuss how to respond. One of the options on the table was Europe’s anti-coercion instrument, a never-before-used tactic to deter and respond to economic pressure from foreign governments.
However, on Wednesday, the European Parliament announced it was formally halting the implementation of the trade deal that Europe reached with Trump.
“Now official: EU-US deal is on hold until further notice,” Bernd Lange, the chairman of the Parliament’s international trade committee, said on X. “Our sovereignty and territorial integrity are at stake. Business as usual impossible.”
Now that the 10% tariffs are off the table, it’s not clear whether the European Parliament will implement the EU-US trade deal. Lange said the deal would remain on hold until threats over Greenland “cease.”
Other comments
Trump also used his speech at Davos to address familiar topics, including his desire to deport Somali immigrants in Minnesota, where he says they have committed extensive fraud in social services programs.
“Can you believe that? Somalia — they turned out to be higher-IQ than we thought,” Trump said. “I always say these are low-IQ people. How do they go into Minnesota and steal all that money?”
And he criticized Europe and U.S. allies in NATO, saying they cannot be counted on for defense. At the same time, he complained that the U.S. does not receive sufficient credit for propping up the economies of its allies.
“Without us,” Trump said, “most of the countries don’t even work.”
