President Donald Trump has turned to his favorite form of leverage in his effort to annex Greenland: Tariffs.
Trump said on Saturday he would impose on February 1 an additional 10% tariff on Denmark, which controls Greenland, as well as Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland, unless they agree to a deal to hand over Greenland to the United States.
The president said he would raise those tariffs to 25% in June if they did not comply. All of those countries have already been paying some form of tariff since Trump’s Liberation Day levies went into effect in August 2025.
“This tariff will be due and payable until such time a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase,” he said in a Truth Social post.
Trump’s threat comes as world leaders and CEOs gather in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. The president is expected to address the conference in person on Wednesday.
Trump has had Greenland on his mind since his first term, but has ramped up the rhetoric since the US raid in Venezuela that netted Nicolás Maduro.
The president says US control of Greenland is a national security issue. The Arctic country sits at a strategic point between Russia and China. The US already has a military base, known as the Pituffik Space Base, on the island. Greenland is also a base of critical natural resources, including lithium, gold, iron ore, and oil.
In a statement to Business Insider last week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration was considering a range of options to pursue Greenland, including “utilizing the US Military.”
Trump’s new tariff threat comes as the Supreme Court reviews whether the president has the authority to impose broad, sweeping tariffs on whatever country he wants — and there’s a chance it could rule against the president.
