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Bipartisan US congressional delegations on Saturday sought to secure their support for Denmark and Greenland after President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs if they did not support US control of the strategic Arctic island.
Rep. Sen. Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, said the current talk around Greenland is causing concern throughout Denmark, and they want to escalate the situation.
“I hope that the people of the Danish government will not lose faith in the American people,” Coons said in Copenhagen, where the United States respected Denmark and NATO for “everything we’ve done together.”
Coons held a press conference Saturday ahead of planned demonstrations in Copenhagen and the Greenlandic capital Nuuk in support of the self-governing island.
Thousands of protesters across Denmark joined forces with Greenland to demand that the United States respect Greenlanders’ right to self-determination.
While joint military exercises in Greenland are not unusual, the decision this week by some NATO allies to send troops to support Denmark is a message to US President Donald Trump to ‘change the calculus of risk’, said Kerry Buck, Canada’s former ambassador to NATO. The current tension in NATO has made it a ‘big gift’ to Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Book.
Coons’ comments contradicted those emanating from the White House. Trump has repeatedly said that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland and has tried to justify his call for US control.
The White House has not ruled out taking the territory by force, but Coons said there is “no security threat to Greenland at this time.”
Trump has insisted for months that the United States take control of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark that is a NATO ally, and earlier this week he said anything less than the Arctic island being in American hands is “unacceptable.”
At an unrelated event on rural health care at the White House on Friday, the president talked about how he threatened European allies with pharmaceutical tariffs.
“I can do the same for Greenland,” he said. “If countries don’t go along with Greenland, I can impose tariffs, because we need Greenland for national security. So I can do that.”
Trump has not previously ruled out using tariffs to force the issue.
CBC News Chief Political Correspondent Rosemary Barton asked The National on the Issues panel about US President Donald Trump’s threat to take Greenland and how Canada should respond.
Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in Washington with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
That meeting did not resolve deep differences, but an agreement was reached to form a working group — the purpose of which Denmark and the White House presented different public views.
European leaders have insisted that only Denmark and Greenland can decide on matters concerning the territory, and Denmark said this week that it was increasing its military presence in Greenland in cooperation with allies.
“There is arguably no better ally for the United States than Denmark,” Koons said. “If the Danes do things that make us question our membership as a NATO partner, why would any other country want to be our partner or believe in our representation?”