Trump says he may tariff countries that don’t back US controlling Greenland

US President Donald Trump suggested on Friday that he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the US controlling Greenland, a message that came as a bipartisan Congressional delegation sought to lower tensions in the Danish capital.Trump for months has insisted that the US should control Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Nato ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in US hands would be “unacceptable”.During an unrelated event at the White House about rural healthcare, he recounted on Friday how he had threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals.“I may do that for Greenland too,” Trump said. “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,” he said.He had not previously mentioned using tariffs to try to force the issue.US Senator Lisa Murkowski speaks at a press conference after a meeting with members of the Danish parliament, a Greenlandic committee and US Congress members in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Friday. Photo: AFPEarlier this week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in Washington this week with US Vice-President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.