WASHINGTON – On Friday, President Donald Trump hinted at the possibility of imposing tariffs on countries that do not support the U.S. acquisition of Greenland. This statement came amidst efforts by a Congressional delegation to ease tensions during discussions with Danish and Greenlandic officials in Copenhagen.

For several months, Trump has been vocal about his belief that the United States should have control over Greenland, a semiautonomous region under Denmark, a NATO ally. Earlier this week, he declared that anything short of the U.S. controlling the Arctic island was “unacceptable.”

“I might consider tariffs on countries that don’t align with us on Greenland,” Trump remarked on Friday, though he did not elaborate further. “Greenland is crucial for our national security,” he added.

This was the first time Trump mentioned the potential use of tariffs as a means to pursue this objective.

Earlier in the week, Denmark and Greenland’s foreign ministers were in Washington for discussions with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. These meetings were part of ongoing diplomatic efforts regarding the Greenland issue.

That encounter didn’t resolve the deep differences, but did produce an agreement to set up a working group — on whose purpose Denmark and the White House then offered sharply diverging public views. Greenland is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, a NATO ally of the U.S.