NPR | Sunday, January 18, 2026 
European leaders warn Trump’s Greenland tariffs threaten ‘dangerous downward spiral’

In a striking collective rebuke to President Trump, the leaders of Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement Sunday condemning recent U.S. tariff threats tied to military actions they have taken in Greenland. In the statement, leaders of the eight countries underscored their commitment to shared NATO goals, saying that they stood in “full solidarity” with Denmark and Greenland. They also reaffirmed their willingness to “engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity” in response to President Trump’s repeated threats to take control of Greenland, which is currently an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. On Saturday night, President Trump had written on his Truth Social platform that he would impose tariffs on imports from the eight countries. Trump’s words came after the countries, which are all in NATO, deployed military personnel to Greenland in recent days, to participate in a Danish-led Arctic exercise known as ‘Arctic Endurance’. Trump said America would levy a 10 percent tariff on goods from the eight countries starting on February 1. He claimed those tariffs would rise to 25 percent on June 1, and remain in place “until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland” by the United States. In their joint response, the eight NATO countries said that…Read more