EU leaders meet Thursday in Brussels to weigh options, including tariffs on 93b euros of US imports from Feb 6<\/p>\n
(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on January 19, 2026 shows US President Donald Trump speaks during the House Republican Party (GOP) member retreat at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC on January 6, 2026 (Top) and a giant EU flag waved by demonstrators during a protest in Tbilisi on April 28, 2024. European leaders on January 18, 2026 slammed US President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs over their opposition to his designs on Greenland. PHOTO: AFP <\/p>\n
United States President Donald Trump linked his drive to take control of Greenland to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize, saying he no longer thought \u201cpurely of peace\u201d, as the dispute over the island on Monday threatened to reignite a trade war with Europe.<\/p>\n
Trump has intensified his push to wrest sovereignty over Greenland from fellow Nato\u00a0member Denmark, threatening punitive tariffs on countries standing in his way and prompting the European Union to weigh retaliatory measures.<\/p>\n
The dispute risks further destabilising the Nato\u00a0alliance, already under strain over the war in Ukraine and Trump\u2019s insistence that allies increase defence spending, while also plunging EU-US trade relations back into uncertainty after the two sides reached a fragile deal last year following sweeping US tariffs.<\/p>\n
In a written message to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere seen by Reuters<\/em>, Trump said: \u201cConsidering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars plus, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.\u201d<\/p>\n Nobel Prize snub<\/strong><\/p>\n The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, a decision that angered Trump. Machado handed her medal to Trump during a White House meeting last week, though the Nobel Committee said the prize cannot be transferred, shared or revoked.<\/p>\n Read More: <\/strong>Europe counters Greenland tariff threat<\/a><\/p>\n In his message, Trump again accused Denmark of being unable to protect Greenland from Russia or China.<\/p>\n \u201c… and why do they have a \u2018right of ownership\u2019 anyway?\u201d he wrote, adding: \u201cThe world is not secure unless we have complete and total control of Greenland.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump vowed on Saturday to impose escalating tariffs from February\u00a01 on EU members Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, as well as Britain and Norway, until the US is allowed to buy Greenland.<\/p>\n EU leaders say they will not be blackmailed<\/strong><\/p>\n EU leaders will discuss options at an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday. One option under consideration is a package of tariffs on 93 billion euros ($108b) of US\u00a0imports that could automatically take effect on Feb\u00a06 following a six-month suspension.<\/p>\n Another option is deployment of the bloc\u2019s Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), which has never been used and could restrict access to public procurement, investment, banking activity or trade in services, including digital services where the US\u00a0runs a surplus.<\/p>\n The EU said it continued to engage \u201cat all levels\u201d with Washington but stressed that use of the ACI remained on the table.<\/p>\n The dispute is expected to dominate discussions at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Trump is due to deliver a keynote address on Wednesday, his first appearance at the event in six years.<\/p>\n German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil and French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, meeting in Berlin, pledged a united European response to any additional US tariffs.<\/p>\n \u201cGermany and France agree: we will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed,\u201d Klingbeil said.<\/p>\n