Wall Street stocks plummeted early Tuesday over President Trump’s threat to impose new tariffs on eight European countries for their resistance to his plans to claim Greenland.
Dow Futures tumbled more than 500 points as investors digested the latest shock to the trading system.
Mr. Trump issued the threat over the weekend, but the markets were closed on Monday due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
The president said new tariffs would start at 10% in February and could rise to 25% by June if the U.S. does not acquire Greenland, a semi-autonomous Arctic island.
Mr. Trump is set to negotiate — or square off — with European leaders this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, over his increasingly heated demands for Greenland.
European leaders argue that Greenland should remain under the Kingdom of Denmark, but Mr. Trump remains steadfast in his plans. He says the U.S. must protect Greenland against Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic.
SEE ALSO: Trump links bid to control Greenland to Nobel Peace Prize snub in message to Norway’s leader
Late Sunday, he said he would get the upper hand when he meets with European leaders.
“I don’t think they’re going to push back. We have to have it. They have to have this done. They can’t protect it,” Mr. Trump said.
European leaders are feverishly brainstorming ways to resist Mr. Trump or soften his threats.
Mr. Trump posted on his Truth Social page what appeared to be private messages from French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Mr. Macron said, “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland.”
Mr. Rutte praised Mr. Trump on other foreign matters and said he is “committed to finding a way forward on Greenland.”
SEE ALSO: Top EU official questions Trump’s trustworthiness over Greenland tariff threat
Further, Mr. Trump criticized the United Kingdom over its plan to return the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius, despite previously endorsing a plan in which the British side would lease the land for a U.S.-U.K. military base.
“There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness. These are International Powers who only recognize STRENGTH, which is why the United States of America, under my leadership, is now, after only one year, respected like never before,” Mr. Trump posted. “The U.K. giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired. Denmark and its European Allies have to DO THE RIGHT THING.”
