EU Leaders Ready to ‘Defend Ourselves’ Amid US Tariff Threats Over Greenland

European Union leaders said after an emergency meeting on Jan. 18 that their nations are ready to defend themselves after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs on Europe as pressure in his bid to take control of the North American island.

After the emergency talks, EU Council President Antonio Costa said that member states agree that tariffs “would undermine transatlantic relations and are incompatible with the EU-U.S. trade agreement.”

Costa said that EU leaders had expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion.”

Costa is expected to convene a full summit of EU leaders later this week.

The meeting comes as Trump has ramped up his efforts to gain control of Greenland for the United States, citing the island’s strategic importance, natural resources, and suggesting that adversaries like Russia or China could move in if the United States doesn’t.

Trump is planning to add a 10 percent tariff onto Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland starting on Feb. 1, which would increase to 25 percent on June 1, according to a Truth Social post he made on Jan. 17, “until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.”

Trump has said the United States needs Greenland for national security purposes and warned that “world peace is at stake” if the United States does not succeed in obtaining Greenland.

“This is a very dangerous situation for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Jan. 17.

He has said that if the United States doesn’t gain control of Greenland, China or Russia will take it.

Meanwhile, the eight European nations, which are already subject to 10 percent or 15 percent tariffs by the United States, have sent a small military presence to Greenland.

"Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral," the group of eight countries said in a joint statement on Jan. 18.
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