UK and Europe’s ‘displeasure’ prompted Trump’s Greenland U-turn, says Lammy

Donald Trump’s U-turn over his threats to annex Greenland was due to the UK and Europe expressing their “displeasure”, David Lammy has said.

The US president had threatened to impose tariffs on European nations that opposed his bid to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

But he appeared to row back on Wednesday, saying he would no longer introduce the tariffs after agreeing a “framework of a future deal” on security in the Arctic following talks with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte.

And in a long and wide-ranging speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he appeared to rule out using military force to annex Greenland.

Speaking to the BBC’s Political Thinking podcast, Mr Lammy said the US “despite the noise, has responded to our concerns”.

He said: “Donald Trump stepped back from any suggestion of force and he stepped back from the use of tariffs.

“Why? Because his close friend, the United Kingdom, and European partners expressed their displeasure and he has stepped back.”

The row over Greenland has proved a major flashpoint in relations between the US and Europe, with Sir Keir Starmer issuing his strongest response yet to Mr Trump.

French president Emmanuel Macron used a speech in Davos to express his opposition to “bullies”, while Canadian prime minister Mark Carney declared the world was “in the midst of a rupture” with “great powers” using economic integration as “a weapon”.

In his BBC interview, the Deputy Prime Minister insisted that there had been no “rupture” with the US.

But Mr Lammy acknowledged the relationship had changed, saying: “The tectonic plates have shifted. There is profound change.

“And one of those changes is that countries like the United States, and others, can use in this new environment coercion instead of the courts to settle disputes.”