LONDON — European leaders warned of a “downward spiral” in relations with Washington on Sunday after President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on eight countries unless they acquiesce to his bid to acquire Greenland.
The scope of Europe’s response will be a key test for its diplomats as they balance the need to stand up for European sovereignty, manage delicate relationships with Washington and consider political and economic pressures at home.
European countries are considering retaliating against the Trump administration by imposing tariffs or measures targeting U.S. firms that provide services to the E.U. market, two European diplomats speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter told The Washington Post. France is pushing for the bloc to use an E.U. instrument often dubbed its trade “bazooka,” which would allow for targeting or restricting American on services in Europe, a major profit center for U.S. tech giants.
The 27-nation bloc’s ambassadors debated the prospect of retaliation during a closed-door meeting in Brussels on Sunday afternoon, though there was largely a preference to try to de-escalate first.
The scramble comes after Trump on Saturday said he would soon impose a 10 percent tariff hike on imports from Britain, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden — all of whom recently had deployed troops to Greenland — until the U.S. strikes a deal to obtain the semiautonomous Danish territory, which he has coveted for its strategic Arctic location and natural resources.
In a statement earlier in the day, the eight countries said they are united with Denmark and Greenland. “We stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the statement read. “Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”
In perhaps one concession to Trump, Germany said it was withdrawing the small number of troops it had deployed to Greenland on Friday. The German military command said Sunday that the 15 soldiers were in the process of returning from the Arctic territory.
“The reconnaissance mission in Greenland has been completed as planned,” a spokesman for the German military command said in a statement. “Important insights were gained, which we will now use to coordinate potential joint measures with our partners and within the NATO framework to strengthen security in the North Atlantic and the Arctic.”
The threat to grab a sovereign territory of Denmark against its will risks fundamentally breaking the NATO defense alliance, which European diplomats said would divide the West and embolden Moscow and Beijing.
“China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among Allies,” Kaja Kallas, the E.U.’s top diplomat, said Saturday.
On Monday, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt are scheduled to visit NATO’s headquarters in Brussels for a previously planned meeting with Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Rutte said on X that he spoke to Trump “regarding the security situation in Greenland and the Arctic,” adding: “We will continue working on this.”
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters on Sunday that Washington had previously agreed to open diplomatic lines of communication with Denmark and that he would prefer to remain on that track.
“We have been asking since the very beginning of this to have constructive dialogue with our American ally and friends, free from social media and headlines and strong words,” he said. “We opened that dialogue last week. We will not give up on that. I have an agreement with the American vice president. It was reconfirmed after we have listened to the press spokesperson. So, we will stay on track — unless U.S. decides differently.”
Many practical questions remain on how the tariffs would work, including whether an expected Supreme Court ruling would curb the use of one law Trump has relied on to impose sudden tariffs. Because the European Union is a single trading and customs bloc, the imposition of tariffs against some would effectively mean tariffs on all 27 nations, European officials said.
And it is American businesses and consumers who wind up paying the fees to U.S. Customs when goods are imported. Still, Trump administration officials defended the move on Sunday as necessary for national security.
“If there were an attack on Greenland from Russia, from some other area, we would get dragged in. So better now, peace through strength, make it part of the United States,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The European leaders will come around and they will understand that they need to be under the U.S. security umbrella.”
Armida van Rij, a security expert at the Center for European Reform think tank, said Europe was in a particularly vulnerable position as Russia continues to wage its war in Ukraine — another factor for its diplomats to consider. “They are, rightly, too worried about [Trump] selling out Ukraine to Russia over their and Ukrainian heads,” van Rij said.
Van Rij said she was also skeptical about Trump’s claim that it was necessary to acquire Greenland for security purposes. “If it really were about immediate security risks around Greenland and in the Arctic, he would have welcomed Europe’s efforts,” she said.
U.S. lawmakers have also been wrestling with how to respond to Trump’s posturing on Greenland. Some Republicans said they would support Trump’s bid to purchase Greenland while opposing military action. Others joined Democrats in condemning the takeover and its national security justification altogether.
“There’s no emergency with Greenland. That’s ridiculous,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) said on “Meet the Press.” “And the idea by the secretary that oh, this is to ‘prevent an emergency.’ Now we’re declaring emergencies to prevent emergencies?”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) called the national security justification a ruse to cover up Trump’s true aim: resource acquisition.
“This is not about security,” he said on ABC News. “This is about a land grab. Donald Trump wants to get his hands on the minerals and other resources of Greenland just like the real reason he went into Venezuela.”
Brady reported from Munich, Francis in Brussels and Raji from Washington. Lauren Kaori Gurley in Washington contributed to this report.
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