EU Calls Emergency Meeting Over Trump Tariffs

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified Trump's positioning on Greenland overnight, stating that "we are not going to outsource our national security."

The elites of The European Union are not best pleased at Trump's tariff threat (on some European allies that oppose the United States’ efforts to acquire Greenland) and immediately called an emergency meeting of ambassadors from the bloc’s 27 nations to discuss just how sternly worded their email response would be.

As we detailed yesterday, Trump has reiterated numerous times that 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.

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.

As Jacob Burg reports below for The Epoch Times, the military deployment is intended to bolster Arctic security “as a shared transatlantic interest” and poses no threat to anyone, the nations said, adding that they are ready for dialogue with the United States “based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind.”

“We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland,” the eight countries said, adding, “We are committed to upholding our sovereignty.”

In an English translation of her written statement, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, “Since the U.S. President’s announcement of tariffs, the [Danish] government has been in intensive dialogue with our allies.”

“It is all the more important that we stand firm on the fundamental values ​​that created the European community. We want to cooperate, and we are not the ones seeking conflict,” she said.

“And I am pleased with the consistent messages from the rest of the continent: Europe will not be blackmailed.”

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson echoed Frederiksen in a social media post on Saturday, adding, “Only Denmark and Greenland decide on issues concerning Denmark and Greenland.”

“This is an EU issue that affects many more countries than those now being singled out,” he added.

“Sweden is now having intensive discussions with other EU countries, Norway, and the United Kingdom for a coordinated response.”

Germany’s vice-chancellor and finance minister Lars Klingbeil said that “a line had been crossed”, adding that the affected nations “must not allow ourselves to be blackmailed”.

“There will be a European response to this threat,” he said.

“It is unacceptable to hit countries that are now taking more responsibility for our common security in Nato,” said Troels Lund Poulsen, Denmark’s defence minister, who will meet Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte on Monday.

Not to be outdone, France’s Emmanuel Macron has called for the EU to activate its so-called anti-coercion instrument that can restrict access to the single market for American companies.

“He will be in contact throughout the day with his European counterparts and will request, on France’s behalf, the activation of the anti-coercion instrument,” said an Élysée official.

Tariff Retaliation

The FT reports that EU capitals are considering hitting the US with €93bn worth of tariffs or restricting American companies from the bloc’s market in response to Donald Trump’s threats to Nato allies opposed to his campaign to takeover Greenland. The move marks the most serious crisis in transatlantic relations for decades.

Manfred Weber, president of the European People’s Party, the largest political party in the EU, said the party wouldn’t back a trade deal with the U.S.

“The EPP is in favour of the EU–U.S. trade deal, but given Donald Trump’s threats regarding Greenland, approval is not possible at this stage,” he wrote in a post on X.

“The 0% tariffs on U.S. products must be put on hold.”

The tariff list was prepared last year but suspended until February 6 to avoid a full-blown trade war. Its reactivation was discussed on Sunday by the EU’s 27 ambassadors, along with the so-called anti-coercion instrument (ACI) that can limit the access of American companies to the internal market, as the bloc wrestled over how to respond to the US president’s threat with punitive tariffs.

“There are clear retaliation instruments at hand if this continues . . . [Trump’s] using pure mafioso methods,” said a European diplomat briefed on the discussion. “At the same time we want to publicly call for calm and give him an opportunity to climb down the ladder.”

“The messaging is . . . carrot and stick,” they added.

European officials said that they hoped their retaliation threats would increase bipartisan pressure in the US against Trump’s actions and result in him retreating from his tariff pledge.

“It is already a situation that no longer allows compromises, because we cannot hand over Greenland,” said a fourth European official.

“The reasonable Americans also know that he has just opened Pandora’s Box.”

Greenland Governance

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt at the White House on Jan. 14.

Rasmussen described the talks as a “frank but also constructive discussion.”

Trump said on Jan. 16 that he was considering a wave of tariffs on European allies “if they don’t go along” with allowing the United States to purchase the Danish territory.

The U.S. president noted on social media that attempts by the United States to “do this transaction” for Greenland date back “over 150 years.” U.S. President Andrew Johnson’s administration first floated the idea of expanding American influence in the Arctic in the 1860s.

Trump has also previously signaled that Greenland would be a wise investment for the United States due to estimates of high quantities of rare earth mineral deposits on the Arctic island.

While the island was under formal Danish control since the era of colonization in the early 1700s, Greenland was granted self-governance in the 1970s with the creation of a parliament and the Self-Government Act of 1979, expanding the island’s autonomy. However, the island didn’t gain full self-governance until 2009.

On Jan. 9, the officials from Greenland, including Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and multiple political party leaders, released a statement reaffirming Greenland’s sovereignty and rejecting any claims that would impede the island’s autonomy.

“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” the statement said. “The future of Greenland must be decided by the Greenlandic people. ... No other country can interfere in this.”

World Cup Boycott

German politician Jurgen Hardt (CDU) spoke to newspaper BILD recently to suggest that Germany could withdraw from football's biggest competition in response to Trump's threats against Greenland. "Dropping out of the tournament would, however, only be considered as a last resort in order to get Trump to see sense on the Greenland issue," he said.

Germany are not the only nation who have raised concerns over the participation at this summer's World Cup. Back in September 2025, Spanish government officials suggested that withdrawing their national team was on the cards due to political tensions on the global stage.