Lawmakers from both parties promised legislative action to block Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs against European allies on Monday, though Republicans willing to publicly break with the president on Greenland remain in short supply.
Senator Peter Welch, a Democrat, announced plans to introduce a resolution aimed at terminating tariffs Trump threatened to impose over the weekend on eight European countries, including Nato allies Denmark, the UK, Germany and France. The president first mused about the tariffs on Friday at a White House roundtable, then punctuated his threat with new details that included a 10% levy beginning in February, escalating to 25% by June unless a deal is reached for what he called the “Complete and Total purchase of Greenland”.
A joint resolution of disapproval under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act would block the tariffs if it passes both chambers. But Trump could veto the measure, meaning lawmakers would need a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate to override him – a high bar requiring significant Republican defections.
Representative Gregory Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the House foreign affairs committee, said he would also offer a resolution to terminate the tariffs, while the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, indicated Democrats plan to introduce legislation with binding authority.
The hard posturing from the Democrats comes on the heels of a bipartisan congressional delegation that traveled to Denmark and Greenland over the weekend. Led by Chris Coons, a Democratic senator, it sought to reassure Danish and Greenlandic officials of US support during the escalating tensions. In Copenhagen, Coons said he was hopeful that Danes would not “abandon their faith in the American people”.
“Greenland is a part of Denmark. Denmark is our Nato ally. That should be the end of this discussion,” Coons said.
The question now is whether enough Republicans will break with Trump to make any measure viable. So far, vocal opposition has come from a small but notable group of GOP senators.
“This response to our own allies for sending a small number of troops to Greenland for training is bad for America, bad for American businesses, and bad for America’s allies,” said Thom Tillis, a soon-to-retire Republican senator from North Carolina, who called the tariff threat “great for Putin, Xi and other adversaries who want to see Nato divided”.
Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator from Alaska, who traveled to Denmark over the weekend as part of the bipartisan delegation, described the tariffs as “a profound mistake” and urged that Greenland be viewed as an ally rather than “an asset”.
Yet Murkowski suggested the limited number of Republicans on the trip should not be interpreted as lack of concern within the party. “I don’t think that the absence of Republicans is because they don’t care about this issue,” Murkowski told reporters, hinting at broader unease among her colleagues.
Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, warned that a US takeover of Greenland would spell the end of Nato, while Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland’s prime minister, said at a news conference last week: “We choose Denmark.”
Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who recently joined Trump’s Truth Social platform, expressed surprise at the tariff announcement after what he described as a constructive meeting with JD Vance and Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state.
The increased Danish military presence in Greenland that Trump referenced, Rasmussen noted, was undertaken “in full transparency with our American allies” to enhance Arctic security.
Mike Johnson, the US House speaker, speaking to British media, said he did not foresee military intervention in Greenland and believed “diplomatic channels is the way to go”.
Democrats will have another opportunity this week to gauge Republican willingness to constrain Trump’s military posturing when the House votes on Thursday on a resolution to limit intervention in Venezuela, where the president has also issued threats.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, warned the Greenland gambit “undermines Nato at a time when our adversaries seek to benefit from division”.
In Greenland, a tourism company recently withdrew its invitation to the Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry, Trump’s Greenland envoy, to attend the territory’s annual dog sled race. For the nearly 60,000 Greenlanders watching the escalating dispute over their homeland’s future, Welch said, the anxiety was real.
“People in Greenland are afraid: they are afraid that the United States is actually going to invade,” the Vermont senator said in a video statement. “Our country, big as it is, secure as it is, should be reassuring our allies we’ll be there for them, not be there against them.”
