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Printed On 21 Jan 2026
United States President Donald Trump says he’s abandoning plans to impose steep tariffs on European international locations against his plans to take control of Greenland, after holding talks with NATO chief Mark Rutte.
Trump mentioned in a social media submit on Wednesday that the tariffs gained’t be imposed as a result of he and Rutte agreed to “the framework of a future cope with respect to Greenland and, in truth, all the Arctic Area”.
“This resolution, if consummated, will likely be an important one for america of America, and all NATO Nations,” he mentioned, with out going into additional particulars about what was agreed upon.
Trump has been threatening for weeks to take management of Greenland, a semi-autonomous island that belongs to Denmark, spurring widespread condemnation in Europe and world wide.
Trump announced on Saturday that he would impose 10 % tariffs on Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK, beginning on February 1, over the international locations’ opposition to his Greenland takeover push.
Trump has repeatedly accused Denmark of failing to do sufficient to safe Greenland’s territorial waters within the Arctic, and he has argued that the US must seize the island for its personal nationwide safety.
However Greenlandic and Danish leaders have rejected the US president’s stance, which lately spurred mass protests underneath the banner, “Palms off Greenland”.
“Tariff threats are unacceptable and haven’t any place on this context,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media after Trump issued his financial menace on Saturday.
“Europeans will reply in a united and coordinated method ought to they be confirmed. We are going to be certain that European sovereignty is upheld,” Macron mentioned.
Trump’s aboutface on the tariffs got here simply hours after he told world leaders on the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday that whereas the annexation of Greenland was vital, his administration wouldn’t use drive to do it.
“Individuals thought I might use drive. I don’t have to make use of drive. I don’t wish to use drive. I gained’t use drive,” mentioned Trump, including that he was “looking for speedy negotiations to as soon as once more talk about the acquisition of Greenland by america”.
