Washington, January 19, 2026 – The Europe Today: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and US President Donald Trump discussed the security situation in Greenland and the wider Arctic region during a phone call on Sunday.
“We will continue working on this, and I look forward to seeing him in Davos later this week,” Rutte said in a post on the social media platform X, following the conversation.
Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, has long drawn US strategic interest because of its location in the Arctic and its significant mineral resources. The region has also been at the center of concerns in Washington over increased Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic.
The discussion comes amid heightened transatlantic tensions after President Trump announced on Saturday that the United States will impose 10 percent tariffs on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland starting February 1. The tariffs are set to rise to 25 percent in June, with Trump citing opposition from these countries to US control of Greenland.
Following the announcement, European leaders, including the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, pledged to deliver a coordinated response, signaling a potential escalation in economic and political friction between the United States and its European allies.
