https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/01/16/trump-greenland-us-tariff-threat/88213651007/
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump, who called himself “the tariff king,” threatened to impose tariffs on other countries to pressure them into allowing the United States to annex Greenland.

Trump has insisted on controlling Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark, by arguing that it is vital for minerals and Arctic shipping lanes. But his proposal set off an international firestorm, with opposition from leaders in Denmark and Greenland, elsewhere in Europe and among bipartisan members of Congress.

Trump’s comments came at a health care event at the White House, where he trumpeted how the threat of tariffs forced other developed countries to accept higher drug prices so U.S. prices could come down.

“I may do that for Greenland, too,” Trump said Jan. 16. “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland because we need Greenland for national security. I may do that.”

He didn’t elaborate on how much the tariffs would be or which countries he would impose them on. But tariffs he has already imposed led to a temporarily halt in trade with China and pressured other countries to open their doors to more trade and companies to invest more in U.S. factories.

The Supreme Court could rule at any time on the legitimacy of tariffs that Trump imposed unilaterally around the world that have raised hundreds of billions of dollars from the taxes on imports from abroad.

“I’m the tariff king and the tariff king has done a great job,” Trump said. “I hope we win the Supreme Court case because if we don’t, it’d be a shame for our country.”