Donald Trump has issued a warning of potential tariffs on nations resisting his pursuit to purchase Greenland.
“I might consider tariffs on countries that don’t align with our Greenland objectives. Securing Greenland is crucial for our national security,” the president remarked to the press at the White House on Friday.
This latest warning targeting the Danish territory coincided with the arrival of a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers in Copenhagen. Their mission is to strengthen ties with America’s NATO partner.
In a demonstration of allegiance, European forces have been stationed in Greenland as part of a military reconnaissance effort.
The delegation, consisting of 11 U.S. congress members, was scheduled for discussions with Denmark’s Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, and Greenland’s leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
At midday, the delegation convened at the Danish employers’ association, Dansk Industri, to engage with business executives.
They were due later to meet members of the Danish parliament, over which the Greenlandic flag was raised on Friday in a show of unity.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to promote investment in rural health care in the East Room of the White House, Friday
Aaja Chemnitz, Senator Chris Coons and Christian Friis Bach at Christiansborg on January 16, 2026 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
‘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 Trump.
The delegation’s visit follows a meeting in Washington on Wednesday at which Danish representatives said Copenhagen and Washington were in ‘fundamental disagreement’ over the future of 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 said.
‘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.
Trump claims the United States needs mineral-rich Greenland and has criticized 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 on Friday, according to an AFP journalist, days after Denmark said it was beefing up its defense 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.
Britain, 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 on Thursday.
Large demonstrations are planned across Denmark and Greenland on Saturday to protest against Trump’s territorial ambitions.
Thousands of people have taken to social networks to say they intend to take part in the protests organized by Greenlandic associations in Nuuk and Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg and Odense.
In addition to 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.
