Dutch minister calls Trump’s Greenland tariff threat ‘blackmail’

The Netherlands’ foreign minister on Sunday said that U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose new tariffs on European allies until they agree to sell Greenland to the United States is “blackmail”.
“It’s blackmail what he’s doing … and it’s not necessary. It doesn’t help the alliance (NATO) and it also doesn’t help Greenland,” David van Weel said in ‍an interview on Dutch television.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump said additional 10% import tariffs would take effect on February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Great Britain — countries that have agreed to contribute personnel to a NATO exercise on Greenland.
Van Weel said the Greenland mission was intended to show the U.S. Europe’s willingness to help defend Greenland and he was opposed to Trump making a connection with diplomacy over the island and trade.