Summary

  • Greenland's prime minister says "we will not let ourselves be pressured", as Donald Trump says he will impose tariffs on countries that oppose his plan to take over the island

  • Watch live above as our experts answer your questions

  • Jens-Frederik Nielsen says Greenland has the right to makes its own decisions: "The latest statements from the US, including threats of tariffs, do not change that line"

  • Earlier, Keir Starmer said Trump's plan to impose tariffs on the UK, and other countries, was "completely wrong"

  • While calling it a "very serious situation", the UK PM also seemed to downplay retaliatory tariffs - saying a trade war is in nobody's interest

  • Trump wants the "complete and total purchase" of the Danish territory, saying it's essential for US and global security - with the White House saying it could even be taken militarily

  • Meanwhile, Trump says in a message to Norway's PM that not being given the Nobel Peace Prize means he no longer has "an obligation to think purely of peace" - read the exchanges in full

  1. 'Dear Donald': Texts between Norwegian PM and Trump in fullpublished at 15:36 GMT
    Breaking

    US President Donald Trump (R), and Norway's prime minister Jonas Gahr Store (L), during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 24 April 2025.Image source, EPA
    Image caption,

    Norway's PM Jonas Gahr Store (L) with US President Donald Trump (R) in the White House last April

    Earlier, we shared part of the text exchange between Donald Trump and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Støre. The BBC's US partner, CBS News, has now received the full version, after it was released under Norwegian freedom of information law.

    The message Jonas Støre sent was on behalf of himself and the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb.

    Here's the exchange:

    Message from Støre to Trump, 18 January at 15:48:

    Dear Mr President, dear Donald - on the contact across the Atlantic - on Greenland, Gaza, Ukraine - and your tariff announcement yesterday.

    You know our position on these issues. But we believe we all should work to take this down and de-escalate - so much is happening around us where we need to stand together.

    We are proposing a call with you later today - with both of us or separately - give us a hint of what you prefer!

    Best - Alex and Jonas

    Message from Trump to Støre, 18 January at 16:15:

    Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.

    Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States.

    The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT

  2. Watch experts answer your questions livepublished at 15:29 GMT

    We’ll be answering your questions on Trump’s latest tariff threat live in the next few moments.

    Christian Fraser will present the Q&A session at 15:30 on the BBC News Channel and on this page. He'll be joined by:

    • Helena Humphrey, Washington DC correspondent
    • Nick Beake, Brussels correspondent
    • Sophie Gaston, visiting fellow in the Department of War Studies at King's College London

    You can watch live at the top of this page.

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  3. EU-US trade deal at risk after Trump's Greenland tariff threatpublished at 15:24 GMT

    Jonathan Josephs
    BBC business reporter

    Ursula von der Leyen shakes hands with Donald Trump in a room full of American and EU flagsImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Ursula von der Leyen agreed a tariffs deal with Donald Trump in Scotland in July 2025

    Less than six months ago, the US and the EU agreed a deal that was meant to stabilise transatlantic trade.

    European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen left President Trump's golf course in Scotland with tariffs of 15% on everything the EU sells to the US - much better than the 30% America had threatened.

    At the same time, Brussels prepared a package of tariffs that would come into force if no agreement was reached.

    This included tariffs on everything from livestock to aircraft parts to whiskey, totalling €93bn (£80bn) worth of goods that the US sells to the EU.

    The high-level agreement meant those taxes were suspended while details were worked out, and the European Parliament was set to ratify the EU-US trade deal next week.

    But within hours of Trump's threat, influential German MEP Manfred Weber said approval was "not possible at this stage".

    Without the EU signing off on last year's deal or extending the suspension, the tariffs on billions of euros worth of American goods will kick in on 7 February.

    That risks a political backlash in the US for Trump from companies that export to Europe.

  4. Trump's tariffs at a glancepublished at 15:19 GMT

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  5. European finance leaders say strong response needed if Trump implements tariffspublished at 15:02 GMT

    Lars Klingbeil and Roland LescureImage source, Bloomberg via Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Lars Klingbeil (left) and Roland Lescure (right) attend a Eurogroup meeting in Brussels on Monday

    French and German finance ministers say they're prepared to take strong action if President Trump goes ahead with his threatened tariffs over Greenland, Reuters reports.

    Speaking ahead of a Eurogroup meeting in Brussels, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said Europe must react "with confidence" if the threat materialises.

    French Finance Minister Roland Lescure echoed that sentiment, saying the European Union must be ready to "react strongly".

  6. Urgent meetings and Trump's text message on Nobel Peace Prize: Your afternoon recappublished at 14:42 GMT

    Keir Starmer stands at a podium in front of a Union Jack flagImage source, EPA/Shutterstock

    The day so far has been dominated by reaction to Donald Trump's threat over the weekend to impose further tariffs on a swathe of European countries that are opposing his plan to take over Greenland.

    Here's what's been happening:

    • Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said he received a text message from Donald Trump on Sunday, saying he no longer feels "an obligation to think purely of Peace" after Norway "decided not to give him" the Nobel Peace Prize
    • The Norwegian leader said he has explained to Trump the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee, not the Norwegian government
    • In response to Trump's latest threat on Greenland, urgent meetings are being called across Europe - Denmark and Greenland's ministers are talking to the Nato secretary general, while French President Emmanuel Macron is holding a defence council meeting at the Élysée
    • In the UK, there's been a range of reaction from politicians to Keir Starmer's Greenland speech earlier, where he said Trump's plan to impose tariffs is "completely wrong", but played down the idea of retaliatory tariffs
    • And renewed talk of tariffs has sent stock markets falling across Europe

    Stay with us as we continue to bring you the latest.

  7. Analysis

    US has long been allowed to build bases and deploy more forces to Greenlandpublished at 14:31 GMT

    Joe Inwood
    World news correspondent

    Snowy sign reading Pituffik Space BaseImage source, Getty Images

    There already are US flags flying in Greenland.

    Indeed, under a 1951 agreement between the US and Denmark, it is mandated that Stars and Stripes are present in military bases.

    The "Defence of Greenland Agreement" gives Washington extensive access to the island, including the right to build bases and facilities, deploy more forces and generally operate as they see fit.

    There are very few restrictions on what the US military can do, so long as they do not impinge on the national interest of Denmark or the local population.

    US personnel are even exempt from local taxation, as is all imported equipment.

    In short, the argument that the US would not be able to build bases or deploy forces necessary for the defence of Greenland, or the rest of the continent, is not backed up by the document signed by both governments.

    The 1951 treaty concludes by saying that the agreement shall remain in force for as long as the Nato alliance survives.

    It is this final point which is looking the least certain.

  8. How did we get here?published at 14:15 GMT

    Donald Trump already made eyes at Greenland back in 2019, during his first stint as US president. But tensions have ramped up considerably since the start of this year.

    Here are the key events from this month:

    3 January 2026: Katie Miller - the wife of one of Trump's senior aides, Stephen Miller - posts on social media a map of Greenland in the colours of the American flag alongside the word "SOON".

    6-7 January 2026: The White House confirms Trump has been discussing "a range of options" to acquire Greenland, including use of the military, after European leaders issue a joint statement rallying behind Denmark.

    14 January 2026: Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers meet with Trump's team in the White House, but say a "fundamental disagreement" remains after the "frank" discussion.

    15 January 2026: Troops and vessels from European Nato allies arrive in Greenland - including Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the UK.

    17 January 2026: Trump announces new taxes on eight US allies - Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK - to come into force from February, if they continue to oppose his proposed takeover of Greenland.

    Map showing the location of Greenland and the capital Nuuk, relatively to Denmark, Canada and the United States. Also labelled is the US capital Washington.
  9. Listen: Greenlanders on Trump's plan, and the trauma of colonisationpublished at 13:57 GMT

    A residential building in Greenland with a large mural of a woman stroking a polar bear, which is lying down. The ground is covered in snow and two people are walking pastImage source, Getty Images

    Donald Trump’s desire to annex Greenland has been met with a stern rebuke from many Greenlanders, especially within the island’s Inuit community.

    BBC Europe editor Katya Adler has been speaking to Inuit women in the capital, Nuuk, about the territory’s history of colonisation and the trauma it has caused.

    In the 1960s and 1970s, thousands of Inuit women - including girls as young as 12 - were fitted with contraceptive devices as part of a birth-control programme run by Danish doctors.

    Last year, the Danish government issued a formal apology for the programme.

    Now, on Trump’s latest proposal on Greenland, tattoo artist Ikimaliq Pikilak says: "I think it’s an unfair position to put our people in."

    "We get this choice whether we want to be Danish or American. We are asked to choose between two oppressors. From their perspective, there is simply no option for us to just be our own people."

    Listen to Katya’s dispatch on this week’s edition of From Our Own Correspondent on BBC Sounds.

  10. Denmark and Greenland ministers meet Nato chief as France holds urgent defence meetingpublished at 13:48 GMT

    A group of four people stand in a group while a woman reads from a piece of paperImage source, REX
    Image caption,

    Vivian Motzfeldt (C) and Troels Lund Poulsen (R) meet Nato chief Mark Rutte today

    Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt are meeting today with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels.

    The agenda includes "Nato co-operation on security, defence and deterrence" in the Arctic, according to a statement from the Danish Ministry of Defence.

    Meanwhile in France, President Emmanuel Macron is holding an urgent defence council meeting today on Greenland, Syria and Iran, his office tells the BBC.

  11. When will we hear from President Trump?published at 13:32 GMT

    Bernd Debusmann Jr
    Travelling with President Trump

    Donald Trump at the furniture storeImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Trump has not spoken on camera or to reporters since Friday afternoon

    I'm currently in West Palm Beach, Florida, where I'm among the White House reporters travelling with President Trump during the extended US holiday weekend.

    While we've heard from Trump on Greenland on Truth Social - including an overnight post saying "it is time" for the US to take the island - we haven't heard from him in person since Friday afternoon when we arrived.

    The closest glimpse we got was yesterday afternoon, when the president made a brief visit to a local furniture shop after spending his day at the golf course.

    We saw him looking at various items through the windows, but the press wasn't in a position to ask any questions.

    It's unclear when we might hear from him today. He's got nothing on his public schedule until this evening, when he'll make an appearance at the national college football championship game in Miami.

    We're unlikely to hear from him on policy matters during this appearance.

    We may, however, hear from him on the flight back to Washington DC at night.

    Stay with us for more updates.

  12. 'We will not let ourselves be pressured,' says Greenland premierpublished at 13:23 GMT

    Greenland's premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen waving a Greenland flag and spreading his arms wide, amid around a dozen other protestors waving flagsImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Nielsen attended a protest against President Donald Trump's demand that the Arctic island be ceded to the US at the weekend

    Greenland's premier says the country will not be pressured, after Trump's tariff threats over his bid to gain control of the territory.

    In a post on Facebook, Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomes the support of other nations, calling it "a clear recognition that Greenland is a democratic society with the right to make its own decisions".

    He adds: "The latest statements from the US, including threats of tariffs, do not change that line. We will not let ourselves be pressured. We stand firm on dialogue, on respect and on international law."

    Nielsen attended a protest against the US president's demand that the Arctic island be ceded to the US, calling for it to be allowed to determine its own future, in front of the US consulate in the capital of Greenland Nuuk at the weekend.

  13. Listen to the latest on the Greenland row on BBC's World at Onepublished at 13:07 GMT

    The BBC is due to speak to Lord Peter Mandelson, who was the British ambassador in Washington until September last year.

    Lord Mandelson, who was sacked after revelations about his friendship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, will speak to BBC Radio 4's The World at One shortly about Trump’s ambitions to take over Greenland. The show will also have political analysis and reaction.

    You can watch and listen live on the stream at the top of this page.

  14. Watch: Breaking down Starmer's speech on Greenland rowpublished at 12:51 GMT

    Starmer branded US tariffs on its allies "completely wrong" in his speech on the US-Greenland situation earlier, adding that the island's future must be decided by "the people of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark alone".

    Chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman has analysed the prime minister's words:

  15. The increase in trade tensions has hit stock markets across Europepublished at 12:39 GMT

    Nick Edser
    Business reporter

    As we reported earlier, the gold price has hit a record high this morning but share prices have fallen as investors react to Donald Trump’s threat to impose fresh tariffs

    But the increase in trade tensions has hit stock markets across Europe. The UK’s FTSE 100 index has fallen 0.6%, Germany’s Dax index is down 1.5% while France’s Cac 40 is 1.6% lower.

    Carmakers and luxury goods firms - two sectors that stand to lose out from new US tariffs - saw some of the biggest falls.

    In Germany, shares in car companies BMW, Mercedes-Benz and VW were all down by about 3-4%, while in France luxury brands LVMH and Hermes were among the biggest losers.

    However, European defence stocks rose, with Germany's Rheinmetall and France's Thales both trading higher.

    Markets in the US are closed on Monday for a public holiday.

  16. Analysis

    If Europe does nothing, it risks looking weak - if it goes too far, it risks a trade warpublished at 12:31 GMT

    Nick Beake
    Europe correspondent, reporting from Brussels

    For the past year, European leaders have been trying to manage, placate, and charm Donald Trump but something has now changed.

    Some EU leaders are now openly accusing the US president of “blackmail” with his latest tariff threats over Greenland.

    The dilemma Europe faces is that if it doesn’t do anything in response it risks looking weak and may well embolden the president in his desire to get Greenland.

    If it goes too far, it risks a trade war with the US, its biggest trading partner.

    President Macron of France wants the EU to fight back by deploying for the first time the EU’s so-called “trade bazooka” - a weapon originally designed to combat bullying by a hostile external country. They were thinking about China, not the US.

    Here, the bazooka could mean counter-tariffs on the US, barring US products from the EU single market and banning American companies for bidding for lucrative contracts in the EU.

    But Giorgia Meloni of Italy is among those leaders who fear this would cause considerable mutual damage and she argues a diplomatic solution must be found to clear up what she has tried to characterise as a “misunderstanding” over the US and EU’s respective positions on Greenland.

    Whether or not there was any genuine confusion, the fundamental problem is that these positions are poles apart and completely incompatible with each other.

  17. 'Weak' or 'level-headed'? What UK politicians think of Starmer's Trump tacticspublished at 12:20 GMT

    Jeremy HuntImage source, PA Media
    Image caption,

    Conservative MP Jeremy Hunt says he supports Starmer's approach on Greenland

    Politicians from across the political spectrum are reacting to Keir Starmer's speech at Downing Street, and the UK government's response to Trump's tariff threats over Greenland.

    • Conservative MP Jeremy Hunt says "I don't agree with Keir Starmer on many things but I do support the level-headed approach he's taking on Greenland". He adds that "if the sovereignty of a Nato ally is not a red line what is?"
    • "Weak, weak, weak. This appeasement must end," says Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey. "Starmer should be uniting with our allies against Trump's threats, not splitting off to suck up to him," he says
    • "We're way past the point of giving pleading appeasement speeches", says Leader of the Green Party Zack Polanski. He criticises Starmer's signing of a defence deal with Palantir - a US technology company - "knowing full well how unpredictable and dangerous the US President is"
    • Leader of Reform UK Nigel Farage says he plans to tell US government officials this week that "this is not how you treat your best friends". Economic threats are "very, very hurtful to us", he adds.
    • Diane Abbott, who currently sits as an independent MP, says Starmer's "pleading for special treatment from a political mobster is not working", adding "Trump just sees weakness"
  18. Have your Greenland questions answered by our expertspublished at 12:15 GMT

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    Do you have any questions you want answered on the Greenland US situation? Send them our way we'll select a few to put to our team of experts and correspondents at 15:30 GMT.

    In some cases a selection of your comments and questions will be published, displaying your name and location as you provide it unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published.

  19. Analysis

    Trump linking peace prize snub to tumult of recent days is remarkablepublished at 12:03 GMT

    Joe Inwood
    World news correspondent

    There it is, in black and white, at the very top of an extraordinary message to the Norwegian prime minister.

    It had long been discussed the extent to which Donald Trump, ever aware of how he is perceived, covets the Nobel Peace Prize. Even so, for him to link it so directly to the diplomatic tumult of recent days is quite remarkable.

    Last year's award, which is decided by an independent panel, was given to Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado. That was followed by her being sidelined by Trump in discussions about the future of the country, before she promptly arrived at the White House to present him with her medal.

    Trump has also previously criticised the award given to one of his predecessors. “He got elected and they gave it to (Barack) Obama for doing absolutely nothing but destroying our country.”

    Trump's message goes on to discuss the implications of the perceived snub - suggesting that Trump will now begin to act more directly in the US national interest.

    This morning, the Norwegian PM released a statement saying: "I have clearly explained, including to President Trump what is well known - the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee".

    One of the things that has been notable since he returned to the White House is the extent to which international leaders, especially in Europe, have gone out of their way to lavish praise on Donald Trump’s attempts at international peace making.

    Even that, it seems, has not been enough.

  20. Norway doesn't pick Nobel Prize winner, PM tells Trumppublished at 11:47 GMT
    Breaking

    Composite image of Trump on left and Norway PM Store on the rightImage source, EPA/Shutterstock

    Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has provided additional context to the message he received from Trump, that we reported on earlier.

    In that message, Trump says he no longer feels "an obligation to think purely of Peace" after Norway "decided not to give" him the Nobel Peace Prize.

    In a statement, Støre says Trump's text was sent on Sunday afternoon in response to himself and Finnish President Alexander Stubb putting forward their opposition to tariff increases.

    Støre says it was Trump's decision to then share this message with other Nato leaders.

    "Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter," the Norwegian PM writes in today's statement.

    He concludes: "As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to president Trump... the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian government."