Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China: US president
\n Washington
\nDonald Trump no longer needs to think \u201cpurely of peace\u201d after being snubbed for a Nobel, the US president said in comments published on Monday, adding the world will not be safe until Washington controls Greenland.
\nTrump has put the transatlantic alliance to the test with threats to take over Greenland \u201cone way or the other\u201d, with European countries closing ranks against Washington\u2019s designs on the vast Danish territory.
\nGerman and French leaders denounced as \u201cblackmail\u201d weekend threats by Trump to wield new tariffs against countries which oppose his plans for the Arctic Island, and said on Monday that Europe was preparing trade countermeasures.
\nThe European Union said it was holding an emergency summit on Thursday to weigh its response, and that while its priority is to \u201cengage not escalate\u201d it is ready to act if needed.
\nGreenland, for its part, said the tariffs threat does not change its desire to assert its own sovereignty.
\n\u201cWe will not be pressured,\u201d Greenlandic prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post, adding that the autonomous territory \u201cis a democratic society with the right to make its own decisions\u201d.
\nBut Trump had earlier doubled down, announcing in a message to Norway\u2019s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store that the world \u201cis not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland\u201d.
\nThe message \u2014 published on Monday and whose authenticity was confirmed to AFP by Store\u2019s office \u2014 also saw Trump brush aside peace as a primary goal.
\n\u201cI no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace,\u201d he said, citing his failure to win the last year\u2019s Nobel Peace Prize, despite openly coveting it.
\nHe said although peace would still be \u201cpredominant,\u201d he could \u201cnow think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.\u201d
\nStore said the statement had been received in response to a message from him and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, where they had \u201cconveyed our opposition\u201d to Trump\u2019s tariff threats.
\nStore also underlined that the Nobel Peace Prize was not awarded by the Norwegian government.
\n\u201cI have clearly explained, including to President Trump what is well known \u2014 the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee,\u201d he said in a written statement.
\nRussia, China threat?
\nTrump has repeatedly said his country needs vast, mineral-rich Greenland for \u201cnational security\u201d, despite the United States already having a base on the island and security agreements with fellow Nato ally Denmark.
\n\u201cDenmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China,\u201d Trump said in his message to the Norwegian premier, doubling down on that sentiment in a post to Truth Social on Monday.
\nDenmark\u2019s defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on Monday steps had already been taken along with Nato allies to \u201cincrease military presence and training activity in the Arctic and the North Atlantic\u201d.
\nLund Poulsen added that he and Greenlandic foreign minister Vivian Motzfeldt would be meeting with Nato chief Mark Rutte later on Monday.
\n\u2018Blackmail\u2019
\nThis weekend, Trump said that from February 1, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland would be subject to a 10% tariff on all goods sent to the United States \u2014 a duty which could go higher.
\nGermany\u2019s vice chancellor Lars Klingbeil slammed the move as blackmail, and said Monday that Europe was preparing countermeasures.
\nFrench finance minister Roland Lescure, speaking at a press conference alongside Kingbeil, agreed.
\n\u201cBlackmail between allies of 250 years, blackmail between friends, is obviously unacceptable,\u201d Lecurse said.
\nKlingbeil said Europe\u2019s response could have three main strands.
\nFirst, the current tariff deal with the United States would be put on hold, he said.
\nSecond, European tariffs on imports from the United States, currently suspended until early February, could come into force.
\nAnd thirdly the EU should consider using its toolbox of instruments against \u201ceconomic blackmail\u201d, he added.
\nEurope\u2019s stock markets fell as the week\u2019s trading began on Monday, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warning that a \u201ctrade war is in no one\u2019s interest\u201d.
\nGreenland \u2014 whose tiny population of 57,000 has voiced disquiet at Trump\u2019s threats \u2014 continued to make its preferences clear on Monday.
\nGreenland\u2019s dogsled federation said that the new US special envoy to the Arctic island had been disinvited to its annual race.
\nJeff Landry had been invited to attend the race by a private Greenlandic tour operator, an invite the KNQK federation has previously called \u201ctotally inappropriate\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China: US president Washington Donald Trump no longer needs to think \u201cpurely of peace\u201d after being snubbed for a Nobel, the US president said in comments published on Monday, adding the world will not be safe until Washington controls Greenland. Trump has put the transatlantic alliance to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526610,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-526590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n