In early 2026 Trump pressed for US control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of the NATO ally Denmark, saying the US would have it “one way or the other” and at first refusing to rule out military force. To pressure a sale, he threatened tariffs on eight European allies, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK, set to rise from 10 to 25 percent. Denmark deployed troops to Greenland and warned that any attempt to take it by force would mean the end of NATO. Several Republican lawmakers criticized his use of economic pressure against allies. Trump walked back the tariff threat and ruled out force, then revived the demand at the NATO summit that July.
Sources“One way or the other”, force not ruled out (NBC) · Tariff timeline on eight allies (CNBC) · Republicans criticized the economic pressure (TIME)
