The Greenland standoff has strained relations with Denmark, drawn condemnation from Greenland’s government and Indigenous Inuit leaders, and triggered bipartisan pushback in Congress, where senators from both parties warn that the administration’s approach risks a decades-long alliance and does not reflect American public opinion.

President Donald Trump said Friday he may impose tariffs on countries that refuse to support U.S. control of Greenland, extending economic pressure to the months-long dispute with NATO ally Denmark over the semiautonomous Arctic territory. The statement came during a White House event on rural health care as a bipartisan Congressional delegation arrived in Copenhagen to meet with Danish and Greenlandic leaders and ease tensions.

“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,” Trump said. He had not previously mentioned using tariffs to force the issue. Trump added that he had already threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals and that he might apply the same approach to the Greenland dispute.

Congressional delegation pushes back in Copenhagen

The delegation, led by Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, met Friday in Copenhagen with Danish and Greenlandic lawmakers and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Coons thanked Denmark for “225 years of being a good and trusted ally and partner.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, said the relationship required care. “Greenland needs to be viewed as our ally, not as an asset, and I think that’s what you’re hearing with this delegation,” she told reporters. Murkowski also said that approximately 75% of Americans oppose U.S. acquisition of Greenland.

Murkowski and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, have introduced bipartisan legislation that would prohibit use of U.S. Defense or State Department funds to annex or take control of Greenland or the sovereign territory of any NATO member state without that ally’s consent or authorization from the North Atlantic Council.

The delegation’s tone contrasted sharply with statements from the White House, which has not ruled out taking Greenland by force and has repeatedly justified the push by claiming China and Russia have their own designs on the island, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals.

Greenland and Inuit leaders reject U.S. framing

Greenland’s Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said Tuesday that his government had chosen its side. “If we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU,” Nielsen said.

Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic politician and member of the Danish parliament who attended Friday’s meetings, said the justifications coming from Washington did not reflect reality. “We have heard so many lies, to be honest and so much exaggeration on the threats towards Greenland,” Chemnitz said. “And mostly, I would say the threats that we’re seeing right now is from the U.S. side.”

Sara Olsvig, chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, which is based in Nuuk and represents approximately 180,000 Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia’s Chukotka region, told the Associated Press that persistent White House statements about owning Greenland reveal “a clear picture of how the US administration views the people of Greenland, how the U.S. administration views Indigenous peoples, and peoples that are few in numbers.”

“That really is concerning,” Olsvig said, adding that Indigenous Inuit in Greenland do not want to be colonized again.

Diplomacy stalls; Denmark boosts military presence

Earlier in the week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in Washington with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The encounter produced an agreement to set up a working group, though Denmark and the White House then offered sharply diverging public accounts of the group’s purpose.

Denmark said this week it was increasing its military presence in Greenland in cooperation with allies. European leaders have insisted that any decisions about Greenland’s status are for Denmark and Greenland alone to make.