Europeans were wary of President Trump on Sunday advertisement that eight countries will face a 10% tariff for challenging American control of Greenland.
Responses to Mr Trump’s decision ranged from saying it risked a “dangerous downward spiral” to declaring that “China and Russia should have a day of work”.
Mr Trump’s threat sets up a dangerous test of US cooperation in Europe. Several European countries have sent troops to Greenland in recent days, saying they are there for Arctic security training. Mr Trump’s announcement came on Saturday as thousands of Greenlanders were winding down a protest outside the US consulate in the capital, Nuuk.
The Republican president said he was using the tariffs as a tool to negotiate with Denmark and other European countries over the status of Greenland, which he considers a semi-autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. critical to US national security. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would have to pay the tariff.
The eight countries issued a joint statement on Sunday: “As members of NATO, we are committed to strengthening Arctic security as a shared transatlantic interest. The pre-coordinated Danish exercise ‘Arctic Endurance’ with allies responds to this need. It poses no threat to anyone.”
The statement added: “We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland. Building on the process that began last week, we are ready to engage in dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we firmly uphold. Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. We will remain united and coordinated in our sovereign response.”
Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/NurPhoto via Getty Images 
There are immediate questions about how the White House could try to impose tariffs, given that the EU is a single economic trading hub. Norway and the UK are not part of the 27-member EU, and it was not immediately clear whether Mr Trump’s tariffs would affect the bloc as a whole. EU envoys scheduled emergency talks for Sunday evening to determine a possible response.
It was also unclear how Mr Trump might act under US law, although he could invoke the emergency economic powers that are currently subject to him. Appeal from the Supreme Court.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said that China and Russia will benefit from divisions between the US and Europe. he added in a post on social networks: “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can deal with it within NATO. Tariffs risk impoverishing Europe and the United States and undermining our shared prosperity.”
Mr. Trump’s move was also thrown into disarray at home.
Senator Mark Kelly, a former US Navy pilot and Democrat who represents Arizona, said Mr Trump’s threatened tariffs on US allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need”.
“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” he said. He wrote in X. “The damage this president is doing to our reputation and our relationships is increasing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with opponents and enemies in every direction.”
A CBS News poll His release on Sunday found widespread opposition among Americans to buying Greenland or taking it by military force. Seventy percent said they would oppose using federal funds to buy the territory, and 86 percent would oppose military seizure.
The announcement of the tariffs prompted a blowback from Mr Trump’s populist allies in Europe.
Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, considered one of Mr Trump’s closest allies on the continent, said on Sunday she had spoken to him about the tariffs, which she called “a mistake”.
The sending of small numbers of troops to Greenland by some European countries was misunderstood by Washington, Meloni told reporters during a two-day visit to South Korea. He said the deployment was not an anti-US move but was aimed at providing security against “other actors” he did not name.
Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France and a member of the European Parliament, also tweeted that the EU should scrap last year’s tariff deal with the US, describing Mr Trump’s threats as “commercial blackmail”.
Mr Trump also achieved the rare feat of uniting Britain’s main political parties – including the hard-right UK party – all of whom criticized the tariff threat.
“We don’t always agree with the US government and in this case we certainly don’t. These tariffs will hurt us,” UK leader Nigel Farage, a long-time champion and ally of Mr Trump, wrote on social media. He stopped short of criticizing Mr. Trump’s designs on Greenland.
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who leads the centre-left Labor Party, said the tariff announcement was “absolutely wrong” and that his government would “follow up directly with the US administration”.
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Norway will also address the crisis in a press conference in Oslo on Sunday.