'Now it's time': Trump's fresh Greenland threat raises alarm despite Europe's pushback

US President Donald Trump on Monday doubled down on his plan to acquire Greenland, escalating a transatlantic dispute that has drawn sharp rebukes from European leaders.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said NATO had warned Denmark for years about the “Russian threat” to Greenland and claimed Copenhagen had failed to act.

“Now it is time, and it will be done!!!” Trump wrote.

Trump has threatened sweeping tariffs against European allies unless Denmark agrees to the “complete and total purchase” of Greenland by the United States.

On Saturday, Trump announced that beginning February 1, 2026, the United States would impose a 10% tariff on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland until a deal is reached to transfer Greenland to US ownership.

He argued that the tariffs were justified by decades of US military protection of Europe and claimed that China and Russia were seeking control of Greenland.

Golden Dome, according to the US department of defense, aims to create a next-generation missile shield to guard the United States against a growing range of threats, including hypersonic glide vehicles, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles from adversaries like China and Russia.

The project, inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome but on a vastly larger scale, would integrate ground-based interceptors, ship-based weapons, airborne defenses and space-based systems into a single command-and-control network.

European leaders reject the threats

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Greenland’s status was not open to coercion.

“Our position on Greenland is very clear — it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and its future is a matter for the Greenlanders and the Danes,” Starmer said in a statement from Downing Street.

He said that imposing tariffs on allies for pursuing NATO’s collective security was “completely wrong” and said Britain would raise the issue directly with Washington.

French President Emmanuel Macron called Trump’s tariff threat “unacceptable,” saying Europe “will not be swayed by any intimidation.”

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said European allies would not be “blackmailed,” while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk “a dangerous downward spiral.” She stressed that territorial integrity and sovereignty are core principles of international law.

In a joint statement, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom said they stood in “full solidarity” with Denmark and the people of Greenland. The countries said recent Arctic military exercises were defensive and posed no threat, and warned that tariff threats would damage NATO unity.

Trump is expected to meet von der Leyen and other European leaders next week at the annual World Economic Forum in Switzerland, where Greenland is set to dominate discussions.

Greenland, the world’s largest island, lies between North America and the Arctic and is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.

Home to about 56,000 people, mostly Inuit, it hosts the US-run Pituffik Space Base, part of America’s missile warning system.

Trump has revived a long-standing but controversial idea of US ownership of Greenland, insisting that without American control the island could fall into the hands of rival powers.