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 Trump’s proposed tariffs “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”

“As members of NATO, we are committed to strengthening Arctic security as a shared transatlantic interest,” the leaders said. “The pre-coordinated Danish exercise ‘Arctic Endurance’ conducted with Allies, responds to this necessity. It poses no threat to anyone.”

The coordinated statement reflects an unusually explicit diplomatic pushback by key U.S. allies. In addition, some individual European leaders issued their own individual criticisms.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the use of tariffs against allies, calling it “completely wrong”. A spokesman for the UK Prime Minister later said Starmer had shared this view with President Trump in a phone call on Sunday. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Sweden would not be “blackmailed,” while Norway’s prime minister stressed that “threats have no place among allies.”

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also made a statement, praising “great support” from European allies. “I am pleased with the consistent messages from the rest of the continent: Europe will not be blackmailed,” Frederiksen said.

European foreign policy leaders made clear that trade coercion would harm the broader transatlantic relationship and potentially derail other ongoing negotiations.

One unnamed French official close to Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told NPR that Paris had mobilized its diplomatic apparatus “to coordinate a European response to the new, unacceptable tariff threats issued by President Trump.”

The official added that Barrot had been in talks with his British, German and EU counterparts and was in contact with all affected foreign ministers and European Parliament political groups.

Ordinary citizens have also registered their opposition to President Trump’s recent threats, with large protests in Denmark and Greenland against American pressure alongside the broader NATO debates about Arctic security as well as the diplomatic scramble.

In his social media post on Saturday, Trump framed Europe’s actions as part of “a very dangerous situation” and argued the tariffs were necessary to protect “Global Peace and Security” – language that has been widely challenged by European officials and analysts as exaggerated or unfounded given the context of NATO cooperation in the Arctic.

This latest tariff standoff follows weeks of increasingly assertive U.S. rhetoric regarding Greenland and Arctic policy. Trump has repeatedly declared Greenland — a vast, sparsely populated territory — as strategically vital to U.S. national security, citing its location and untapped mineral resources.

Greenlandic and Danish leaders have consistently pushed back, insisting the territory is not for sale, most recently during discussions between the two countries’ foreign ministers and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Domestically, the tariff decision has sparked pushback not only abroad but among U.S. lawmakers. Bi-partisan voices in Congress have criticized the approach as damaging to NATO cohesion, and warned that it could jeopardize U.S. credibility.

Analysts have pointed out that the United States already maintains a military presence in Greenland, which has shrunk dramatically over the decades, and so question the necessity of coercive economic measures tied to territorial ambitions.