President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a “Great, Historic Investment in Rural Health Roundtable” in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 16, 2026.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said Friday he may impose tariffs on countries “if they don’t go along with Greenland.”
“We need Greenland for national security. So I may do that,” Trump said at the White House during a health-care-related event.
The comments show Trump, whose push to acquire Greenland for the U.S. has grown increasingly aggressive in recent months, turning to one of his favorite tools for leveraging power over foreign nations.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for additional information on Trump’s remarks.
The Trump administration has previously said it is weighing multiple options, including utilizing the U.S. military, in order to take over the Danish territory.
Trump asserts it is essential that America own Greenland — even though the U.S. already maintains a military base there — because of national security concerns posed by China and Russia.
The White House has also said the U.S. is considering making an offer to buy the Arctic island. But Greenland and Denmark have repeatedly insisted that the territory is not for sale and has no wish to be absorbed into America.
Trump’s suggestion that he may wield tariffs to get his way on Greenland came after he described a similar strategy to force foreign countries to raise their drug prices.
Trump has pushed to lower the cost of U.S. drugs by mandating that domestic prices match lower ones paid overseas.
At the White House event Friday, Trump said he threatened the leaders of multiple countries to either raise drug prices as part of a “most favored nations” deal, or else face heavy tariffs on all their imports to the U.S.
“I may do that for Greenland too. I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security,” Trump said.
A delegation from Greenland and Denmark, after meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Thursday, said they have a “fundamental disagreement” with Trump.
Trump has greatly expanded the government’s use of tariffs since retaking office, raising the overall average tariff rate to an estimated 17%.
Many of his broadest levies were invoked using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. The administration’s use of that law has been repeatedly challenged, and multiple courts have found the actions unlawful.
The dispute has been elevated to the Supreme Court, which could soon deliver its ruling on the legality of Trump’s IEEPA tariffs.
Trump has claimed that his agenda would unravel if the high court rules against him.
“I hope we win the Supreme Court case, because if we don’t, [it’d] be a shame for our country,” he said Friday.