By Dure Akram
It sounds like a bizarre throwback to colonial times, yet it unfolded this week. 27 European Union leaders scrambled to convene an extraordinary emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday over a threat from the president of the United States. Donald Trump’s latest gambit – a bid to acquire Greenland by any means necessary – has sent shockwaves across Europe. European Council President António Costa called an urgent meeting of EU leaders, warning that transatlantic ties risk a “dangerous downward spiral” after Trump vowed to slap tariffs on countries resisting his plan to seize Greenland.
Never before have NATO allies been confronted with such an ultimatum from Washington, and the stage is now set for a face-off with potentially historic consequences.
In a joint statement on Sunday, the eight nations targeted by Trump’s tariff threat said they “stand in full solidarity” with Denmark and the people of Greenland. From London and Paris to Berlin, leaders denounced Trump’s move as economic blackmail and vowed not to be cowed. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, whose country owns Greenland, praised Europe’s unity: “Europe will not be blackmailed,” she declared, insisting that sovereignty is not for sale. French President Emmanuel Macron echoed that “no intimidation or threat” would change Europe’s stance. Even the United Kingdom – often eager for U.S. trade deals – called the tariff plan “completely wrong.”
Trump announced on Saturday that a 10% import tariff will hit goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain starting February 1, rising to 25% by June 1 – and staying in place “until a deal is reached” for the “Complete and Total purchase of Greenland”. The unprecedented ultimatum shocked European capitals. Officials in Brussels spent the weekend drafting counter-measures, including €93 billion in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports and activation of a new “anti-coercion” tool – a veritable trade “bazooka” – to hit back at Washington. “
Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. We will respond in a united and coordinated manner,” European ministers vowed. Privately, some diplomats murmured about the unthinkable: could NATO itself be at risk if this confrontation escalates?

The crisis hasn’t emerged in a vacuum. On Monday, Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, confirmed receiving a startling letter from President Trump that linked his threat to seize control of Greenland to the fact that he has not been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He complained that he “no longer felt an obligation to think purely of Peace.” Trump pointedly repeated his demand for “Complete and Total Control of Greenland,” questioning Denmark’s rights to the island and even dredging up a dubious historical claim (“a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats there, also”).
“Considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize… I can now think about what is good and proper for the United States,” he wrote bluntly to the Norwegian leader. As if to underscore his impatience, Trump told NATO allies to “do something for the United States” after all he’s “done for NATO,” and asserted that “the world is not secure unless we have complete control of Greenland.”
What makes this standoff especially perilous is its potential to unravel the NATO alliance from within. Greenland may be semi-autonomous, but it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark – a NATO member. Trump has pointedly not ruled out using military force to seize the island if negotiations fail. Such talk sets off alarm bells because under NATO’s Article 5, an attack on one ally is an attack on all. In other words, if the U.S. were to invade Greenland, America could technically find itself at war with its own NATO partners.
“It would turn NATO on its head – essentially a war with NATO itself,” warned Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, the former House Foreign Affairs Committee chair. Senior U.S. lawmakers across party lines are at a loss for words.
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen flatly called Trump’s rationale a lie: “This is not about security. This is about a land grab. Donald Trump wants to get his hands on the minerals and resources of Greenland,” he said, urging Congress to invoke the War Powers Resolution to stop any military adventurism. Ex-Speaker Newt Gingrich, normally a loyal defender, casually dismissed the Greenland push as “a lot of noise to set up a negotiation” – essentially suggesting Trump is bluffing for leverage. But others fear he means it. “Any attempt to seize Greenland by force or coerce Denmark would drive a wedge through transatlantic relations and inflict potentially irreparable damage on NATO,” one European analyst cautioned starkly.
On the streets of Nuuk and Copenhagen, the response has been fiery. Thousands of Greenlanders and Danes poured into the cold January air over the weekend, waving both Greenlandic and Danish flags and chanting in unison: “Hands off Greenland!”
Greenland’s own Prime Minister joined a rally of ordinary folks, reflecting an almost unprecedented sight: a small Arctic community staring down a superpower. Polls show roughly 85% of Greenland’s 57,000 residents oppose joining the U.S.. European NATO troops even held exercises on Greenland’s ice cap in a symbolic show of defence commitment. In Washington, meanwhile, Trump’s gambit is feeding late-night punchlines and serious debate alike. Senator Bernie Sanders took to social media with a sardonic suggestion – if Trump is so eager to make Greenland part of America, then perhaps Americans should inherit Denmark’s famed welfare benefits. Would that mean “free healthcare with no deductibles, free college, 52 weeks of paid parental leave, and 5 weeks of paid vacation? Because that’s what everyone in Denmark and Greenland has,” Sanders quipped.
Global markets are now on edge. Investors woke up Monday trying to fathom the real odds of an Atlantic trade war or even NATO rupture. European officials talk of calibrating a response to confine the clash to a “classic trade war” and not let things spin out of control. As analysts put it, we are witnessing a stress test of the post-World War II order. Will cooler heads prevail to respect Greenland’s right to self-determination and uphold the rule of law? The coming days may well decide if this crisis subsides with a face-saving deal or explodes into one of the gravest transatlantic rifts in modern memory. The only certainty is that history’s eyes are trained on a remote icy island now caught in a superpower tussle – and the whole world anxiously awaits what comes next.

Article courtesy Daily Times. It is being Reproduced with permission from writer.