Multi-colored customary Greenlandic houses in Nuuk, Greenland, are seen from the water on March 29, 2025. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump threatened Friday to impose tariffs on Greenland and any country that opposes his efforts to take over the Arctic island, as members of Congress from both political parties were in Europe to reassure allied nations that lawmakers will not agree to his plans.
“I could do that for Greenland too. I could put a tariff on countries if they don’t agree with Greenland because we need Greenland for national security,” Trump said. “So I can do that.”
Trump became increasingly focused on acquiring Greenland during his second term in the Oval Office and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier this month that “the use of the U.S. military is always an option available to the commander in chief.”
The legislature is not on board
Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been skeptical or outright opposed to Trump’s aspirations for Greenland, a territory of Denmark that is a NATO ally.
Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Maine independent Sen. Angus King, co-chairs of the Senate Arctic Caucus, met with officials from Denmark this week to try to reassure the country’s leaders.
King wrote in a statement after the meeting: “The coalition of Denmark and Greenland has reiterated to us that it is fully prepared to work with the United States in any way to expand our national security presence in Greenland – an agreement that dates back 75 years.”
“It was a very productive meeting and I hope that the government will finally recognize that the takeover of Greenland by a military force – to essentially attack a NATO ally – is almost unthinkable,” King added. “It would be the greatest gift this country could give to (Russian President) Vladimir Putin.”
Murkowski wrote that “the United States, Denmark and Greenland should be able to count on each other as partners in diplomacy and national security.”
“Respect for the sovereignty of the Greenlandic people should be non-negotiable, so I was grateful for the opportunity to engage in direct dialogue with the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland,” Murkowski wrote. “Meetings like today’s are critical to building stronger relationships with our allies that will endure in a changing geopolitical landscape.”
House Speaker mocks ‘media narrative’
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a news conference this week that he had not heard of any plans for military action in Greenland at any briefing he had attended and that he believed “this is a media narrative that has been fabricated.”
Johnson said he doesn’t expect troops to be stationed “anywhere in the foreseeable future,” although he added that the United States has national security and critical mineral interests in Greenland.
“Greenland is strategically important, its geography and everything else. So again, you’ll have to wait for that to sink in. I’ll leave it to the government to word it the way they want,” Johnson said. “But I think what the president is articulating, everyone needs to objectively recognize that Greenland has strategic importance for us and also for other countries in the world, so we have to take that very seriously.”
A bipartisan congressional delegation was in Denmark on Friday to tell the leaders of that country and Greenland that they do not support Trump’s efforts.
Representatives on the trip include Delaware Democratic Senator Chris Coons, Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, Murkowski, New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis, as well as Pennsylvania Democratic Representative Madeleine Dean, Maryland Democratic Representative Steny Hoyer, California Democratic Representative Sara Jacobs, Delaware Democratic Representative Sarah McBride and New York Democratic Representative York, Gregory Meeks.
