U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that he now intends to carry out his threats against European countries supporting Denmark on the issue of Greenland, which he wants to annex. Sweden and several other European countries will be hit with new American tariffs as punishment for defying his will and sticking to the stance that he cannot take over the island. According to Trump, the issue concerns both “the survival of our planet” and “world peace.” For this reason, he argues that the U.S. must be allowed to annex Greenland and incorporate the island as part of its missile defense system.
The background is that Sweden, together with countries like Norway, Finland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, are supporting Denmark regarding Greenland, which the U.S. wants to annex. In addition, these European nations have sent military resources to the Arctic island and continue to fly in soldiers and equipment as a signal to the White House that they cannot take over the island.
READ ALSO: Trump’s threat: Sanction tariffs against countries that do not allow us to annex Greenland
Blackmailing His NATO Allies: Tariffs Until the US Gets the Island
This is something the American president cannot accept, and he responds by threatening trade sanctions against his NATO allies. On Saturday, it became clear that Trump is imposing new tariffs on all goods exported from Sweden to the U.S. The tariff will be set at ten percent starting February 1, and will rise to 25 percent on June 1.
“This tariff will be charged until an agreement is reached on a complete and total purchase of Greenland,” Trump writes on social media.
READ ALSO: Trump official on Greenland: “We control NATO and no one will do anything against us”
Trump claims that these European countries are “playing a very dangerous game” when they do not accept his policy of conquest, where he simply takes what he wants. He emphasizes again that it is about both “the survival of our planet” and that “world peace is at stake.”
READ ALSO: Tunnel vision when Säpo singles out Russia as the “biggest threat”
The American president claims that both Russia and China want to take over the island. However, according to Danish intelligence, there hasn’t been a Chinese warship near Greenland for ten years. Even Sweden’s Minister of Defense, Pål Jonson, has gone so far as to accuse Trump of exaggerating the security threat from Russia.
READ ALSO: Pål Jonson: Trump exaggerates Russia’s threat to Greenland
Russia Sends a Message to the White House
Russia considers Greenland a part of Denmark, according to a statement Friday from President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
– We operate on the assumption that Greenland is a territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark, reports the Kremlin.
