Trump’s new tariffs on NATO allies cause crack in GOP
US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on NATO allies who sent troops to Greenland has led to dissent among top Republicans in Congress.
On Friday, Trump imposed import duties on goods from eight European NATO nations after they sent small military contingents to the Arctic island in opposition to his plans to annex the Danish autonomous territory.
“These tariffs are unnecessary, punitive, and a profound mistake. They will push our core European allies further away while doing nothing to advance US national security,” Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski wrote on X on Saturday. She called on Congress to ensure that tariffs are not “weaponized” to harm Washington’s allies.
North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis argued that Trump’s tariff response was “bad for America, bad for American businesses, and bad for America’s allies,” in addition to being great for its adversaries.
“The fact that a small handful of ‘advisors’ are actively pushing for coercive action to seize territory of an ally is beyond stupid,” he wrote on X on Saturday, arguing the push hurts Trump’s “legacy” and his efforts to strengthen NATO.
Last week, Senator Mitch McConnell argued that annexing Greenland would not net the US anything that the island’s people are not already “ready and willing to grant.”
He told the Senate that Trump’s efforts to make European NATO nations spend more on their militaries would go to waste if his push to annex the island were to “shatter” their “trust.”
The US president has imposed 10% tariffs on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland, effective February 1, and vowed to increase the levies further until Greenland is sold to the US.
All eight affected nations condemned the “tariff threats” in a joint statement on Sunday, arguing that the levies “undermine transatlantic relations.”
Trump has voiced interest in bringing Greenland under US control since his first presidential term and has taken the push to new levels since assuming office again last January.
