Multicolored conventional Greenlandic houses in Nuuk, Greenland, seen from the water, March 29, 2025 (Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump threatened Friday to impose tariffs on Greenland and any country that opposes his efforts to seize an Arctic island, as members of Congress from both political parties were in Europe to assure allied nations that lawmakers would not go along with his plans.
“I can do this with Greenland as well. I can impose tariffs on countries if they don’t go with Greenland because we need Greenland for national security,” Trump said. – So I can do it.
During his second term in the Oval Office, Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt increasingly focused on taking over Greenland he said earlier this month that “the use of the U.S. military is always an option at the Commander-in-Chief’s disposal.”
Lawmakers not on board
Republicans and Democrats in Congress were skeptical or even opposed to Trump’s aspirations for Greenland, a territory of Denmark, which is a NATO ally.
Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Maine Independent Sen. Angus King, co-chairs of the Senate Arctic Caucus, met with Danish officials this week to try to reassure the country’s leaders.
King wrote in a statement after the meeting that “the Denmark-Greenland coalition has reiterated to us that it is fully prepared to cooperate 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 administration will finally realize that it is almost unthinkable for a military takeover of Greenland to attack what is essentially a NATO ally,” King added. “It would be the greatest gift to (Russian President) Vladimir Putin that this country could give.”
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 people of Greenland should be non-negotiable, which is why I was grateful for the opportunity to enter into direct dialogue with the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland,” Murkowski wrote. “Meetings like the one held today are integral to building stronger relationships with our allies that will endure in a changing geopolitical landscape.”
Speaker of the House of Representatives ridicules ‘media narrative’
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, D-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 attended and that he believed “this is a made up media narrative.”
Johnson said he “doesn’t expect any ground launches anytime soon,” but added that the United States does have national security and critical mineral interests in Greenland.
“Greenland is strategically important, because of its geography and everything else. So, look, again, you have to wait for this to develop. I leave it to the administration to express it in the way that they will,” Johnson said. “But I think what the president is expressing is something that everyone has to objectively acknowledge, that Greenland is of strategic importance to us and also to other countries around the world, so we have to take it very seriously.”
A bipartisan congressional delegation was in Denmark on Friday to inform the leaders of that country and Greenland that they do not support Trump’s efforts.
Lawmakers on the trip include Delaware Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, Murkowski, New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and GOP Sen. Thom Tillis, as well as Pennsylvania Republican Madeleine Dean, Maryland Republican Steny Hoyer, California Republican Sara Jacobs, Delaware Republican Sarah McBride and New York Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeksa.
