ACTIVISTS and political leaders hit out today at the threat by US President Donald Trump that eight countries will face 10 per cent trade tariffs for opposing his plan to take control of Greenland.

Along with other European leaders, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer slammed Donald Trump’s plan to slap tariffs on several Nato allies unless they agree to the US taking over Greenland from Denmark.

The US president said Britain will be charged a 10 per cent tariff “on any and all goods” sent to the US from February 1, increased to 25 per cent from June 1, until a deal is reached for Washington to take over the world’s largest island.

He said the same would apply to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland and that they had “journeyed to Greenland, for purposes unknown.”

Sir Keir said: “Our position on Greenland is very clear — it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and its future is a matter for the Greenlanders and the Danes.

“We have also made clear that Arctic security matters for the whole of Nato and allies should all do more together to address the threat from Russia across different parts of the Arctic.

“Applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of Nato allies is completely wrong. We will of course be pursuing this directly with the US administration.”

Speaking to BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg today, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy insisted that Britain’s position on the future of Greenland was “non-negotiable.”

But, Ms Nandy added, Britain needs to have an “adult debate” with the US over the situation.

She said the Prime Minister planned to speak to Mr Trump at the “earliest opportunity” but could not say if that would be at Davos in the coming week.

Mr Trump’s move prompted criticism across the board from British politicians who fear for their impact on the economy.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Trump was “completely wrong” to impose tariffs over Greenland, adding they would be a “burden for businesses across our country.”

Reform leader Nigel Farage said the tariffs would “hurt” Britain, and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Mr Trump was “punishing” Britain.

Ellie Chowns, the leader of the Parliamentary Green Party and MP for North Herefordshire, accused Mr Trump of treating the international stage “like a schoolyard playground, attempting to bully and brute force other countries into compliance with his imperialist agenda.”

She said the US president’s latest “unhinged” scheme is an “outrageous abuse of power and a direct attack on the principle of national self-determination, treating the future of Greenland as if it were a piece of spoils to be bought and sold.”

Ms Chowns called on the British government to “show genuine backbone” and to “stand firm with Greenland’s right to self-determination.”

Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales Zack Polanski said: “It’s time to stop subservience to Donald Trump. And that starts with questions about how to stop US bases on UK soil and maintain our national security.”

International Secretary of the Communist Party Kevan Nelson said Mr Trump’s “Mafia-like demands regarding Greenland are the latest manifestation of US gangster imperialism.”

He added: “Britain’s so-called special relationship with the US has been exposed as a myth once and for always.”

Former British prime minister Sir Tony Blair’s former press secretary, Alastair Campbell accused Mr Trump of being “a narcissist,” who “just needs to be told to do one.”

Earlier this week, Britain confirmed it had sent a military officer to Greenland as Denmark stepped up its military presence in the Arctic and High North.

Downing Street said they were sent at Denmark’s request to join a reconnaissance group ahead of a planned Arctic endurance exercise, but denied it amounted to a “deployment.”

In a social media post on Saturday, Mr Trump said: “These countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable.

“Therefore, it is imperative that, in order to protect global peace and security, strong measures be taken so that this potentially perilous situation ends quickly, and without question.”

Mr Trump said the US was “immediately open to negotiation with Denmark and/or any of these countries that have put so much at risk, despite all that we have done for them, including maximum protection, over so many decades.”

He said it was “time for Denmark to give back,” adding without any evidence that “China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it.”

EU leaders said the Danish exercise “poses no threat to anyone” and warned tariffs would risk a “dangerous downward spiral” in transatlantic relations.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa said: “The pre-co-ordinated Danish exercise, conducted with allies, responds to the need to strengthen Arctic security and poses no threat to anyone.

“The EU stands in full solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would not bow to “intimidation,” while Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson insisted “we will not let ourselves be blackmailed” and Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said tariffs would be in “no-one’s interest.”

Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store wrote on social media: “Threats have no place among allies.”

Meanwhile in Greenland, thousands marched across snow and ice on Saturday to take a stand against Mr Trump. 

Many have described the demonstration as the largest in Greenland’s history as it drew around a quarter of the island’s 57,000 population.

Demonstrators held signs of protest, waved their national flag and chanted “Greenland is not for sale.”

Others held rallies and solidarity marches across Denmark, including in Copenhagen, as well as in the capital of the Inuit-governed territory of Nunavut in Canada’s far north.

“This is important for the whole world,” Danish protester Elise Riechie said as she held Danish and Greenlandic flags in Copenhagen. “There are many small countries. None of them are for sale.”

In Nuuk, Greenlanders of all ages listened to traditional songs as they marched. Among the marchers was Marie Pedersen who said: “We want to keep our own country and our own culture, and our family safe.” Tillie Martinussen, a former member of Greenland’s parliament, said she hopes the Trump administration would “abandon this crazy idea.”

Writing for People’s Dispatch, Lotte Rortoft-Madsen, chair of the Danish Communist Party, said one of the main reasons that Mr Trump wants control of Greenland is because its “significant deposits of rare earths, copper, nickel, zinc, gold, diamonds, iron ore, titanium, tungsten and uranium.”

She said the US president “wants US companies, many of which have invested heavily in his re-election, to have unfettered access to Greenland’s mineral deposit resources.”