Protest under way in Denmark
Demonstrators have begun gathering in front of City Hall in Copenhagen as part of a series of actions planned throughout Denmark and Greenland in protest of Donald Trump and his plans to take control of Greenland.
The plan in Copenhagen is march to the US embassy in the Danish capital. Other rallies are set to begin later Saturday in Greenland and in other parts of Denmark.
“We are demonstrating against American statements and ambitions to annex Greenland. We demand respect for the Danish Realm and for Greenland’s right to self-determination. Hopefully we can show that there are many of us who support Greenland ,” Camilla Siezing, the chairwoman of the Inuit Association, said in a statement.
Key events
Republican dissent as key figures warn Trump against Greenland pursuit
Chris Stein
Donald Trump’s renewed interest in taking control of Greenland has become a subject of pointed dissent among congressional Republicans, with several allies speaking out in recent days against the idea after the president reintensified his interest following the US raid that captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
Congressional Republicans are typically loath to disagree openly with the president, who has repeatedly called for his party’s dissenters to be voted out of office. But amid polling that shows an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose taking control of the island and warnings from Denmark that an invasion would spell the end of Nato, some congressional Republicans have issued forceful warnings against pursuing the issue.
“The thought of the United States taking the position that we would take Greenland, an independent territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, is absurd,” North Carolina senator Thom Tillis said in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday. “Somebody needs to tell the president that the people of Greenland, up until these current times, were actually very, very pro-American and very, very pro American presence.”
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In his latest posts on Truth Social, Donald Trump appeared to double down on his threats to impose tariffs on countries that do not “go along” with his plan to annex Greenland.
Late Friday, the president posted a black-and-white photograph of himself leaning over his desk in the Oval Office, his face serious and his hands in fist. The photo was accompanied with the text: “Mister Tariff”.
He posted a duplicate of that same photo again in another post with the text: “The Tariff King”.
During a wide-ranging 45-minute nearly uninterrupted address in the White House East Room on Friday, Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on countries that do not “go along” with his plans to annex Greenland.
Though his comments on the matter were brief, it was the second time this week the president used the threat of tariffs – he had previously said that he would impose a 25% tax on imports to the US from countries that do business with Iran amid a brutal crackdown by its regime that has left thousands dead and imprisoned tens of thousands.
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European leaders spent the past year treading carefully around Donald Trump as he levied tariffs, pushed Nato countries to increase their defence spending to 5% of GDP and threatened to pull US support from Ukraine.
But Trump’s plans to seize control of Greenland “may force Europe to draw a line in the snow”, writes The Guardian’s Andrew Roth and Jennifer Rankin.
“Everything else has been subject to negotiation … but the Greenland situation is different because it comes to the question of sovereignty, and it comes to the question of whether Europe is capable of standing up for itself in terms of its own territory, its own rights,” said Kristine Berzina, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund for US defence and transatlantic security.
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Protests planned in Denmark, Greenland against Trump’s calls for annexation
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of today’s events.
A series of demonstrations have been scheduled to take place across Denmark and Greenland today against Donald Trump and his plans to control Greenland.
The aim of Saturday’s protests, which are set to unfold as a US delegation of bipartisan lawmakers meet with Danish and Greenlandic officials in Copenhagen, “is to send a clear and unified message of respect for Greenland’s democracy and fundamental human rights”, Uagut, an organisation of Greenlanders in Denmark, posted on its website.
Jeff Landry, Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, said on Friday that a deal for Washington to take over the island “should and will be made” during this visit and that the president “is serious” about acquiring the largely autonomous territory, which is part of the Danish kingdom.
“In these times, it is important that we show a united front and cooperate broadly. We demand respect for Greenland’s right to self-determination and respect for the people of Greenland. This is not only a fight for Greenland, but also for the rest of the world, ” said Poul Johannesen of the citizens’ initiative, Hands Off Kalaallit Nunaat.
Trump on Friday threatened to impose tariffs against those who oppose his plans to annex the largely autonomous territory, which is part of the Danish kingdom. Earlier in the week, a number of Nato allies – France, Germany, the UK, Norway and Sweden among some – deployed troops to the Arctic island, with the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, saying that Greenland’s defence is a “common concern” for the whole of Nato.
Stay tuned for updates.
