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Greenland has never fought a war. But its shadow looms large over the mineral-rich Arctic island, which apparently requires American takeover for the purpose of \u201cnational security" if US President Donald Trump is to be believed.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s claims? Russia and China are trying to control Greenland. He, however, has not presented any evidence but his imposition of a 10 percent tariff on eight European countries for opposing his designs on the island has created unprecedented tension within military alliance NATO, of which the US and majority EU members are a part.<\/p>\n
Denmark, which is a NATO ally of the US, is one of the countries to be hit with Trump\u2019s tariff and also the country under which Greenland is an autonomous territory.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Viewing his tariff move as a \u201cdangerous downward spiral", EU leaders stressed that this will \u201cundermine transatlantic relations" while also promising to uphold Europe\u2019s sovereignty. The bloc\u2019s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said tariffs will hurt prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, while distracting from the \u201ccore task" of ending Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cChina and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among allies," Kallas said on X. \u201cTariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity. If Greenland\u2019s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO."<\/p>\n
The EU has convened an emergency meeting of ambassadors from its 27 member countries on Sunday to discuss their response to the tariff threat.<\/p>\n
Trump has said from February 1, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland will be subject to a 10-percent tariff on all goods sent to the US.<\/p>\n
Making the announcement on social media, he said \u201cthese countries are playing a very dangerous game" and he must take these \u201cstrong measures" to \u201cprotect global peace and security".<\/p>\n
\u201cOn June 1st, 2026, the Tariff will be increased to 25%. This Tariff will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. \u201cThese Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable. Therefore, it is imperative that, in order to protect Global Peace and Security, strong measures be taken so that this potentially perilous situation end quickly, and without question."<\/p>\n
He, however, added that he was \u201cimmediately open to negotiation with Denmark and\/or any of these Countries".<\/p>\n
Denmark, a fellow NATO member, as well as several other European countries have deployed troops in recent days to Greenland.<\/p>\n
Responding to the tariff, Denmark\u2019s foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he is surprised by the development as only a few days ago he had attended talks at the White House with US and Greenlandic officials on the Greenland question. These talks, however, had failed to iron out differences.<\/p>\n
While European leaders like British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson have denounced the move as \u201cunacceptable" and \u201ccompletely wrong", they have also vowed not to be intimidated and said they stand in \u201cfull solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland".<\/p>\n
Their statements are strengthened by the ongoing European military exercise in Greenland. France has said it was designed to show the world that it will defend the territory, even as Denmark said the US had been invited to join the drill alongside NATO allies.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, the US as part of NATO is invited here," Major-General Soren Andersen, the head of Denmark\u2019s Joint Arctic Command, told AFP on board a Danish Navy vessel in the port of Greenlandic capital Nuuk.<\/p>\n
Andersen, however, stressed the military exercises were \u201cabout what\u2019s going on in Ukraine" and noted he had never seen any Russian or Chinese ships near the island. Despite the invitation to the US to join the drills, which have been underway over the past few days, no American soldiers have been spotted among the troops.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump has insisted the US needs strategically-located and mineral-rich Greenland for \u201cnational security", and has criticised Denmark for not doing enough to ensure its security against rivals Russia and China. He has pursued that argument, despite Greenland \u2013 as part of Denmark \u2013 being covered by NATO\u2019s security umbrella.<\/p>\n
Even though the European military presence has been relatively discreet, Greenland has received it well with the authorities telling its population that more NATO troops will be coming to town.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be more military flights and ships," Greenland\u2019s deputy prime minister Mute Egede has said.<\/p>\n
According to experts, sending a small European contingent to the island is a matter of \u201cstrategic signalling" to the US. But Washington appears unfazed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think troops in Europe impact the president\u2019s decision-making process, nor does it impact his goal of the acquisition of Greenland at all," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on January 15.<\/p>\n
The US president also appeared to question his country\u2019s core role in NATO over Greenland, while adding that Washington was \u201ctalking to" the military alliance about the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to see. NATO has been dealing with us on Greenland," Trump told reporters when asked if he will pull the US out of NATO if it does not help it acquire Greenland. \u201cWe need Greenland for national security very badly. If we don\u2019t have it, we have a hole in national security, especially when it comes to what we\u2019re doing in terms of the Golden Dome (planned missile defense system)."<\/p>\n
Apparently, not much. Trump\u2019s statements have frustrated Denmark and put unprecedented strain on NATO, an alliance that has been the bedrock of western security since World War II.<\/p>\n
European nations, who are members of NATO, have in recent days shown their support for Denmark and Greenland over Trump\u2019s escalating threats, including by sending troops to the strategic territory. This has thrust NATO chief Mark Rutte into an uncomfortable position and his strategy for now: say as little as possible and try to change the subject.<\/p>\n
Facing warnings the crisis could tear the 76-year-old military alliance apart, Rutte has sought to keep himself and NATO out of the fray. Instead, he has tried to deflect Trump\u2019s desires by stubbornly focusing on joint efforts to boost Arctic security, dodged tricky questions and even kept on praising the US leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy role as secretary general, I\u2019m very clear \u2013 I never ever <\/p>\n
It still, however, echoed the US position that the main regional threat is posed by Russia and China. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius was quoted as saying: \u201cRussia and China are increasingly using the Arctic for military purposes, thereby jeopardising the freedom of transport, communication and trade. NATO will not allow this and will continue to uphold the rules-based international order. It is crucial for me that we coordinate very closely within NATO, particularly with our US partners, during the joint exploration in Greenland under Danish leadership."<\/p>\n
(With agency inputs)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n tags :denmark<\/a>donald trump<\/a>European Union (EU)<\/a>Greenland<\/a>NATO<\/a><\/a>. Stay updated with the Latest World News and Global developments<\/a>, along with key India News and National updates<\/a>. Explore Politics<\/a>, City News<\/a>, Explainers<\/a>, and Expert Opinions<\/a> on News18. Join the fun, play games on News18<\/a>.\u00a0Download the News18 App<\/a> to stay updated!Brussels, BelgiumJanuary 18, 2026, 11:55 IST world<\/a> 'National Security' Trumps NATO? EU Says Russia, China Having 'Field Day' Over Greenland Turmoil and .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 'National Security' Trumps NATO? EU Says Russia, China Having 'Field Day' Over Greenland Turmoil Curated By :Oindrila MukherjeeLast Updated:January 18, 2026, 13:20 ISTThe EU's…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news18"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp2.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp2.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp2.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp2.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp2.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp2.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp2.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp2.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp2.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}