President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 16, 2026. JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON / AP
US President Donald Trump on Friday, January 16, warned that he could slap tariffs on countries that do not support his Greenland takeover plans, as US Congress members visited Copenhagen to give their backing for Denmark and its autonomous Arctic island. The bipartisan delegation, on a two-day trip to the Danish capital, said Trump's long-held territorial ambitions – strongly rejected by Denmark – were not shared by the American people.
Europeans have also been showing their backing for Greenland, in a military reconnaissance mission that a Danish general said Washington was invited to and which was linked to what Russia does after the war in Ukraine.
Trump, again insisting the United States needed mineral-rich Greenland for its "national security," warned that he "may put a tariff" on countries that oppose that stance.
The US president on Friday also appeared to question his country's core role in NATO over Greenland, while adding that Washington was "talking to" the military alliance about the issue.
