DAVOS, Switzerland: Canada “stands firmly” with Greenland and Denmark and fully supports their right to decide Greenland’s future, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump declared his push to take control of the autonomous Danish territory was irreversible.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Carney said sovereignty and self-determination must be respected.
“Canada stands firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully supports their unique right to determine Greenland’s future,” he told an audience of political and business leaders.
Carney said the world should not expect a return to a pre-Trump era of US-led global governance.
He argued that major powers were increasingly using economic leverage as a political tool.
“Canada was one of the first countries to hear the wake-up call,” he said, adding that while Ottawa had benefited from decades of “American hegemony”, it now had to adapt to a changing global balance.
He urged middle powers to work together to defend a rules-based international order.
“Middle powers must act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu,” Carney said.
Trump doubles down on Greenland threat
Trump has vowed to follow through “100%” on threats to impose tariffs on European countries opposing his demand to take control of Greenland.
He has also declined to rule out the use of force.
In a post on his Truth Social platform early Tuesday, Trump said Greenland was “imperative for National and World Security” and insisted “there can be no going back”.
He said tariffs would be imposed on goods from the UK and seven NATO allies, including Denmark, starting at 10% on February 1 and rising to 25% from June 1, unless a deal is reached for Washington to purchase Greenland.
Asked by NBC News whether he would act on the tariff threat, Trump said: “I will, 100%.” When asked about using force, he replied: “No comment.”
European allies push back
European leaders have rallied behind Greenland’s sovereignty.
Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Trump could not threaten his way to ownership of the territory.
“We have red lines that can’t be crossed,” Rasmussen told Sky News. “You can’t threaten your way to ownership of Greenland.”
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the future of Greenland was for “Greenlanders and the Danes alone” to decide.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the threatened tariffs would benefit no one and warned against escalation.
“We do not want a trade dispute with the United States,” he said, adding he hoped to meet Trump in Davos.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc would stand its ground.
“Sovereignty is not for trade,” she said, while stressing the EU had “no interest to pick a fight”.
The European Union is due to hold an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday to discuss its response.
NATO tensions and military activity
Denmark has warned that any US military action in Greenland would spell the end of NATO.
Some European allies have sent small troop contingents to Greenland in recent days in what officials described as a symbolic show of support.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) said on Monday that multiple aircraft were en route to Pituffik Space Base in Greenland as part of routine, long-planned operations.
Norad said the activity was coordinated with Denmark and that Greenland’s government had been informed.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre reiterated Norway’s support for Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland.
“Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter,” Støre said.
