UK position on Greenland non-negotiable, Nandy says, amid Trump threat

The UK needs to have an “adult debate” with the US after Donald Trump threatened to ramp up tariffs until a deal is reached for it to buy Greenland, the Culture Secretary has said.

But the Government’s position on the future of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, is “non-negotiable”, Lisa Nandy has said.

The US president said on Saturday that the UK will be charged a 10% tariff “on any and all goods” sent to the US from February 1, increased to 25% from June 1, until a deal is reached for Washington to purchase Greenland from Denmark.

He said the same would apply to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, and that they had “journeyed to Greenland, for purposes unknown”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has described the move as “completely wrong” and said he would be “pursuing this directly” with the US administration.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would not bow to “intimidation” and Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said “we will not let ourselves be blackmailed”.

Although Washington has been ratcheting up pressure over its plans for Greenland, US reports suggest the countries were given no notice of what was coming.

Ms Nandy said Sir Keir would speak to Mr Trump at the “earliest opportunity” but could not say if that would be at Davos in the coming week.

She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “Often, with this particular US administration, the president will express a very strong view. He will then encourage a dialogue.

“He welcomes difference of opinion, and we will never shy away from standing up for what we believe is right, or asserting British interests. And what often happens is a negotiation.”

But she rejected the possibility that Mr Trump would “chicken out” and back away from the threat.

“I don’t think he’ll chicken out. I think this is actually a really serious issue, and I think it deserves a far more adult debate than us threatening the United States and the United States threatening us.”

She said: “The one thing that we won’t do is compromise on our position, which is that the future of Greenland is a matter for the people of Greenland and the people of the Kingdom of Denmark.

“That is non-negotiable. That is the starting point for the conversation.”

Earlier this week, the UK confirmed it had sent a military officer to Greenland as Denmark stepped up its military presence in the Arctic and High North.

Downing Street said they were sent at Denmark’s request to join a reconnaissance group ahead of a planned Arctic endurance exercise, but denied it amounted to a “deployment”.

Mr Trump said the countries were playing a “very dangerous game”, in his Truth Social post announcing the tariffs.

Mr Trump said the US was “immediately open to negotiation with Denmark and/or any of these Countries that have put so much at risk, despite all that we have done for them, including maximum protection, over so many decades”.

He said it was “time for Denmark to give back”, adding: “China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it.”

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa said the Danish exercise was pre-coordinated and “poses no threat to anyone”.

The EU leaders warned tariffs would risk a “dangerous downward spiral” in transatlantic relations.