BREAKING : US President Donald Trump has said he may impose trade tariffs on countries that do not support his plans to take over Greenland. Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed that mineral-rich Greenland is vital for US national security, despite it being covered by NATO’s security umbrella. Link to read more

US President Donald Trump has said he may impose trade tariffs on countries that do not support his plans to take over Greenland and is talking to NATO.

“I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security,” Mr Trump said at the White House.

“I may do that,” he added.

Mr Trump compared the possible Greenland tariffs to those that he threatened on France and Germany last year over the price of pharmaceutical products.

The threat is the latest pressure tactic by the Republican leader as he steps up his bid to acquire the autonomous Arctic island, a goal that he has threatened to achieve by military means if necessary.

It comes as a bipartisan US Congress delegation began a visit to Copenhagen to voice support for Denmark and Greenland.

The two-day visit comes alongside a European show of support in the form of a military reconnaissance mission to Greenland.

The 11 congressmen and women were to hold talks with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

The group arrived at the Danish employers’ association Dansk Industri around midday for discussions with business leaders.

They were due later to meet members of the Danish parliament, over which the Greenlandic flag was raised in a show of unity.

“We are showing bipartisan solidarity with the people of this country and with Greenland. They’ve been our friends and allies for decades,” Democratic Senator Dick Durbin told reporters.

“We want them to know we appreciate that very much. And the statements being made by the president do not reflect what the American people feel,” he added of Mr Trump.

A large black van left Ms Frederiksen’s office shortly before noon, but her office declined to confirm whether the meeting had taken place.

Danish officials said after that meeting they had not managed to change the US administration’s position unacquiring Greenland.

In Greenland’s capital Nuuk, residents welcomed the show of support.

“(US) Congress would never approve of a military action in Greenland. It’s just one idiot speaking,” a 39-year-old union representative told AFP.

“If he does it, he’ll get impeached or kicked out. If people in Congress want to save their own democracy, they have to step up,” said the union rep, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Demonstrations

Mr Trump first floated the idea of acquiring Greenland in 2019 during his first term, but faces opposition in Washington, including from within his own party.

Politicians from both the Republican party and opposition Democrats have said they would back legislation to rein in Mr Trump’s ability to seize Greenland, amid an ongoing fight over war powers, which the US constitution grants to Congress.

A House bill in support of annexing Greenland has also been introduced.

Mr Trump’s special envoy to Greenland said he planned to visit the Danish territory in March, and that he believed a deal could be done.

“I do believe that there’s a deal that should and will be made once this plays out,” Jeff Landry told Fox News in an interview.

“The president is serious. I think he’s laid the markers down. He’s told Denmark what he’s looking for”.

Mr Trump claims the United States needs mineral-rich Greenland and has criticised Denmark for, he says, not doing enough to ensure its security.

The US president has pursued that argument, despite strategically located Greenland – as part of Denmark – being covered by NATO’s security umbrella.

Military personnel were more visible in Nuuk, days after Denmark said it was beefing up its defence on the island.

“I don’t think troops in Europe impact the president’s decision-making process, nor does it impact his goal of the acquisition of Greenland at all,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a briefing.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen retorted that a US acquisition of Greenland was “out of the question”.

The European troop deployment in Greenland for a military exercise is aimed at “sending a signal” to “everyone”, including the United States, that European countries are determined to “defend (their) sovereignty”, French armed forces minister Alice Rufo said.

The UK, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have announced the deployment of small numbers of military personnel to prepare for future exercises in the Arctic.

“A first team of French service members is already on site and will be reinforced in the coming days with land, air and maritime assets,” French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday.

Large demonstrations are planned across Denmark and Greenland tomorrow to protest against Mr Trump’s territorial ambitions.

Thousands of people have taken to social networks to say they intend to take part in the protests organised by Greenlandic associations in Nuuk and Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg and Odense.

In addition to Mr Durbin, the US delegation included Democratic senators Chris Coons, Jeanne Shaheen and Peter Welch, as well as Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis.

Democrats from the House of Representatives in the delegation are Madeleine Dean, Steny Hoyer, Sara Jacobs, Sarah McBride and Gregory Meeks.

New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen said recent rhetoric about the US taking over Greenland undermined NATO and played into the hands of its main adversaries, Russia and China.

“I know there are real, deep concerns here in Denmark and in Greenland. These concerns are understandable when trust is shaken. But I believe saner heads will prevail,” she said in remarks shared ahead of a speech in Copenhagen.

“And I believe that because institutions are already acting. On both sides of the aisle in Congress, there is overwhelming support for NATO and for ⁠the US-Danish relationship,” Ms Shaheen said, whose father was stationed in Greenland when serving in the military during World War II.

Just 17% of Americans approve of President Donald Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, and large majorities of Democrats and Republicans oppose using military force to annex the island, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

Mr Trump has called the poll “fake”.