𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Donald Trump has ruled out a US invasion of Greenland but demanded “immediate negotiations” to obtain the island through other means. The comments, an apparent olive branch to European leaders, came after Sir Keir Starmer delivered an unprecedented attack on the US President, and vowed not to be bullied.

Sir Keir insisted the future of Greenland could only be decided by its residents and the Kingdom of Denmark, which owns the Arctic island. Speaking in the House of Commons, he declared: “I will not yield – Britain will not yield”. The Prime Minister also accused Mr Trump of “splitting the world” and warned of “material consequences”.

Mr Trump responded to speculation about his plan to seize Greenland in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He said: “We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be fairly unstoppable. But I won’t do that. Okay?” Anticipating the reaction of fellow world leaders at the event, Mr Trump continued: “Now everybody is saying, ‘oh, good’. That’s probably the biggest statement I made.”

Mr Trump said: “Because people thought I would use force. But I don’t have to use force, I don’t want to use force, I won’t use force.”

However, the US President made it clear that he would not abandon attempts to claim the territory, home to 56,000 people. He called for “immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States, just as we have acquired many other territories throughout our history, as many of the European nations have”.

Mr Trump accused Denmark of being “ungrateful” for America’s “stupid” post-World War 2 decision to hand Greenland back to the country, although the US has in fact never held sovereignty over the island.

He repeated claims that the US must own Greenland “for strategic national security and international security”, highlighting its key geographic location between the US, Russia and China, and said the US wanted to exploit rare earth minerals beneath the island.

The promise not to use force was welcomed by Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is to visit the UK for talks today.

Sir Keir has previously avoided confrontation with the President despite the imposition of tariffs on British imports to the US, and outspoken criticism of the UK from Mr Trump’s allies.

His change of tone came after Mr Trump announced further tariffs on European nations, including the UK, unless a deal over Greenland was agreed. The President also published a social media post denouncing Labour’s plan to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as “an act of GREAT STUPIDITY”. The islands are to be given to Mauritius and the UK will lease back a US-UK military base for more than £30 billion over 100 years.

Sir Keir said the President had supported the Chagos handover, and accused Mr Trump of backtracking to try to place pressure on him. He said: “President Trump deployed words on Chagos … that were different to his previous words of welcome and support when I met him in the White House.

“He deployed those words yesterday for the express purpose of putting pressure on me and Britain in relation to my values and principles on the future of Greenland. He wants me to yield on my position and I am not going to do so.”

The Prime Minister also insisted he would not give in to threats to impose more tariffs, and told MPs: “I will not yield – Britain will not yield – on our principles and values about the future of Greenland under threats of tariffs, and that is my clear position.”

But illustrating the dilemma the UK faces, Sir Keir also stressed the importance of maintaining the alliance with the US in orer to support Ukraine and deter further Russian aggression. He said: “We have to work with our allies, including the US, on security guarantees to ensure that we can do what we must do in relation to Ukraine.”

Relations with the US have been strained since the UK and partners announced plans to step up defence of Greenland and the surrounding areas, known as the High North, in an effort to allay Mr Trump’s concerns about security, which the President appeared to interpret as a hostile act.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch backed Sir Keir’s approach to Greenland, but criticised the decision to the Chagos deal. She said: “The Prime Minister is giving away territory we own and paying £35 billion for the privilege.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves insisted the “special relationship” with the US was still alive despite differences over Greenland. She said: “There’s no more special relationship on military, on strategic issues, than the relationship between the US and the UK.”