The fight over Greenland has jolted transatlantic relations into their most dangerous phase in years, with President Donald Trump using tariffs to punish NATO partners and the European Union quietly readying a powerful countermeasure.

AMERICA’S HUNGER for Greenland is setting off an explosive row within NATO.  President Donald Trump, infuriated by European allies’ resistance to his effort to annex the autonomous Danish territory, said on January 17th that he would impose 10% tariffs on imports from eight European countries that had sent troops there two days earlier.

In a joint statement, leaders of eight countries said they stand in "full solidarity" with Denmark and Greenland. Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen added: "Europe will not be blackmailed."

The aggressor country Russia is exhausted by the war in Ukraine and cannot pose a large-scale military threat to NATO. However, the Kremlin is capable of challenging Article 5. This was told in an interview aired on "Studio West" by Pekka Toveri, the former head of Finnish military intelligence and a member of the European Parliament.

European powers on Sunday warned that US President Donald Trump's tariff threats over Greenland risk a "dangerous downward spiral" as they weighed a response to the growing crisis. Denmark, Finland, France,

Nathalie Tocci, director of the Institute of International Affairs in Italy, described Trump as pursuing a policy that is “consistently imperial” which will allow other empires, such as Russia and China, to flourish. Tocci added, “Certainly it’s more comfortable for Putin and Xi Jinping to be their imperial selves where that’s the new norm.”

European Union ambassadors held an emergency meeting on Sunday, and leaders from across the 27-nation bloc will meet in Brussels later this week.

An Austrian campaigner’s warning that the European Union would take over U.S. military bases in Europe if Washington invades Greenland has been mischaracterised online as having been said by an EU or NATO official.

Republican lawmakers are scrambling to contain President Donald Trump's threats of taking possession of Greenland, with some showing the most strident opposition to almost anything the Trump administration has done since taking office.