Tensions around Greenland continue to escalate. After Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on eight European countries that have sent their military forces there, the EU responded sharply. French President Emmanuel Macron described the statements as “unacceptable,” while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called them “wrong.”
Against this backdrop, EU ambassadors convened an emergency meeting to discuss two possible ways of containing the US president—introducing retaliatory tariffs and activating the strengthened anti-coercion mechanism that Brussels developed during the “trade war” but has never yet deployed. Trump, for his part, continues to insist that Denmark must “remove the Russian threat from Greenland,” arguing that Copenhagen is incapable of handling the situation. According to European diplomats, the next round of discussions is expected in Davos at the World Economic Forum, scheduled for January 19–23, where the situation around Greenland will be one of the topics on the agenda.
On January 18, an emergency meeting of EU ambassadors was held in Brussels, convened after Donald Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on eight European states. Sources told Reuters that participants reached “broad agreement” on the need to strengthen measures to contain the US president and to prepare a response from the European Union. Further steps, according to Reuters and the Financial Times, are set to be discussed at an extraordinary summit on Thursday, January 22—with two possible scenarios on the table.
The first would involve introducing a package of tariffs on US imports worth €93 billion. According to Reuters and the Financial Times, these measures could take effect as early as February 6. As the FT notes, the relevant list was compiled last year, when Trump threatened trade restrictions against various countries, but its implementation was postponed at the time to avoid a full-scale trade war. “We have clear tools for retaliation if this continues—[Trump] is using purely mafia-style methods. At the same time, we want to publicly call for calm and give him room to back down,” an FT source said.
The second option involves deploying the so-called Anti-Coercion Instrument, ACI, which was discussed back in the spring of 2025 in response to Trump’s earlier tariffs. This mechanism allows the European Union, in cases of trade discrimination, to impose restrictions in the services sector, as well as to affect certain intellectual property rights, investments, and access to public procurement. According to sources close to French President Emmanuel Macron, he is the one pressing for the use of this instrument. France also proposed activating the ACI in March 2025, at the height of the “trade war” with the United States, but at that time it was never applied—the sides ultimately reached an agreement.
Sources at Reuters and the Financial Times in the EU note that the tariff package enjoys broader support than the anti-coercion instrument. The Times adds that Berlin is also considering raising rent for the use of German bases by US forces—including Ramstein and Stuttgart. At the same time, the paper stresses that there are no painless retaliatory measures against the United States: any restrictions, such as excluding American demonstrated companies from certain sectors of the European economy—from hydrocarbons to artificial intelligence—would inevitably also hit EU countries themselves.
In Germany, there has also been a proposal to consider a boycott of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the event of an annexation of Greenland. The tournament is scheduled to take place in the summer in the United States and Mexico. The initiative was voiced by Juergen Hardt, a foreign policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, who stressed that it amounted only to a “theoretical discussion.”
A day earlier, eight EU countries threatened with tariffs over the presence of their troops in Greenland issued a joint statement. It stressed that Danish exercises on the island had been agreed in advance and were aimed at strengthening security in the Arctic, and therefore “pose no threat to anyone.” The authors warned that “threats of tariffs undermine transatlantic relations and create the risk of a dangerous downward spiral.”
In parallel, Donald Trump held separate phone calls with several European leaders. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, according to his spokesperson, told the US president that security in the Arctic remains a priority for all NATO allies and described the imposition of tariffs on partners as “wrong.” Trump also spoke with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, widely seen as one of the European politicians closest to him. She made clear that she “does not agree” with the idea of trade sanctions against countries involved in ensuring Greenland’s security.
Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, speaking on January 18 while on a visit to Oslo with his Norwegian counterpart, said that Copenhagen intends to continue prioritizing diplomacy. “The United States is not just the American president. I was just there. American society also has a system of checks and balances,” he noted.
At the same time, Trump’s skepticism about Europe’s ability to guarantee Greenland’s security is shared by some members of his administration. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with NBC News on January 18 that Europeans are “projecting weakness,” while the United States, in his words, is “the strongest country in the world” and the only guarantee against conflict in the Arctic. Asked how a potential annexation of Greenland would differ from Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Bessent said: “I believe Europeans will understand that this is better for Greenland, better for Europe, and better for the United States.”
Trump himself once again questioned Denmark’s ability to protect the island. “For 20 years NATO has been telling Denmark: ‘You must remove the Russian threat from Greenland.’ Unfortunately, Denmark has proven incapable of doing anything about it. Now the time has come, and it will be done!!!” he wrote on January 19.
As Reuters notes, the European Union’s efforts to establish a dialogue with Washington are likely to become one of the key topics at the World Economic Forum in Davos, scheduled for January 19–23. Trump is expected to deliver a keynote speech there on Wednesday, January 21. “All options are on the table, talks with the United States in Davos, and after that—a gathering of leaders,” one diplomat described the EU’s plan of action.