Trump says he may punish countries with tariffs if they don't back the US controlling Greenland

"U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he may punish countries with tariffs if they don't back the U.S. controlling Greenland, a message that came as a bipartisan Congressional delegation sought to lower tensions in the Danish capital. Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be "unacceptable.""

"During an unrelated event at the White House about rural health care, he recounted Friday how he had threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals. "I may do that for Greenland too," Trump said. "I may put a tariff on countries if they don't go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that," he said."

President Donald Trump said he may punish countries with tariffs if they do not back U.S. control of Greenland, citing national security needs. He has asserted for months that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, and called anything less than U.S. control "unacceptable." He recounted threatening European allies with pharmaceutical tariffs and said again he might impose tariffs to pressure support for Greenland. Denmark and Greenland foreign ministers met with U.S. officials and agreed to create a working group, though Denmark and the White House publicly described the group's purpose differently. Denmark reported increasing its military presence in Greenland with allied cooperation.

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