Trump vows to go ahead with European tariff

The prospect of a potentially damaging trade war between the United States and many of its allies in Europe appears to have grown more likely, after US President Donald Trump said he would "100 percent" go through with his threat to impose tariffs on goods from several European countries as a consequence of the ongoing argument over Greenland.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday a picture of him, flanked by the US vice-president and the secretary of state, hoisting a US flag in Greenland, with a milepost that reads, "Greenland US Territory Est 2026."

He has repeatedly claimed that the US must take control of the Danish territory on the edge of the Arctic Circle, which is sparsely populated but has large mineral resources, and is in a key strategic location.

When a group of European countries, all of which, like the US, are members of the NATO military alliance, sided with Denmark in the dispute, Trump announced the tariff plans.

He said he had had a "very good telephone call" with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and agreed to take part in a meeting "of various parties" when he is in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum in Davos later this week, adding: "Greenland is imperative for national and world security. There can be no going back — on that, everyone agrees."

He proposes that all goods from Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom will be subject to additional 10 percent tariffs from the start of February, rising to 25 percent in June, which will remain until a deal is reached for the US to take control of Greenland, where it has a small existing military presence, but whose residents have consistently rejected any suggestion of being uncoupled from Denmark.

The dispute has highlighted differences in tactics between European partners over how to deal with it.

France's President Emmanuel Macron is reportedly willing to deploy a trade bazooka, which would subject US goods and services to burdensome additional costs and red tape, while Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said he hoped to meet Trump in Davos, said: "We do not want this escalation. We do not want a trade dispute with the US."

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who currently has no plans to go to Davos, said Trump's message had been "very badly received" in the UK, which is not part of the European Union, but he remains reluctant to resort to imposing retaliatory tariffs, saying that "performative" or "grandstanding" gestures "may make politicians feel good, but it does nothing for working people whose jobs, livelihoods, and security rely on the relationships we build across the world".

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told Sky News Europe must show Trump that threats are "not the way forward".

"You can't threaten your way to ownership of Greenland", he said.