Danish PM Rules Out Talks On Sovereignty Amid US Tariff Threat Over Greenland
Frederiksen says Denmark will not negotiate territorial integrity as Trump threatens escalating tariffs
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday that her country will not negotiate over its sovereignty, responding to US threats of tariffs in a dispute over Greenland.
Frederiksen noted that Denmark has never sought any conflicts. However, Denmark is now being threatened by its closest ally, both in terms of Danish territory and Greenlandic self-determination, she told parliament, according to Xinhua News Agency.
Regarding the tariffs the United States has threatened to impose, Frederiksen said a trade war would cost jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. “As much as we must warn against it, we must also prepare for it,” she said.
Trump’s Tariff Ultimatum
In a social media post over the weekend, President Trump announced the United States would impose a 10 percent tariff beginning February 1 on goods from eight European countries opposing his ambition to control Greenland. He warned the tariff rate would rise to 25 percent on June 1 and remain in place until a deal is reached for the “complete and total purchase” of Greenland.
The remarks have intensified a backlash building across Europe. EU leaders will hold an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday to address the tensions, European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said Monday. EU economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis indicated the bloc could renew a pending tariff package or deploy anti-coercion measures.
European Unity Against US Pressure
On Monday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the sovereignty of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark must be “unequivocally” respected, stressing that the issue is of “utmost importance” to the transatlantic relationship as US tariff threats add fresh strain to ties.
Von der Leyen made the remarks in a post on social media platform X after meeting a bipartisan delegation from the US Congress on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“I also addressed the need to unequivocally respect the sovereignty of Greenland and of the Kingdom of Denmark,” she wrote.
On trade, von der Leyen pushed back against the tariff approach, calling transatlantic trade and investment a major asset for both the European Union and US economies and saying tariffs run counter to shared interests.
Earlier, von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa said the EU stood in full solidarity with Denmark and Greenland and warned that tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a “dangerous downward spiral.”
The dispute marks an unprecedented challenge to traditional US-European alliances, with Trump’s territorial ambitions toward Greenland—an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark—raising fundamental questions about sovereignty and the future of transatlantic cooperation.