Starmer walks diplomatic tightrope in response to Trump Greenland threats

Keir Starmer is trying to walk a narrow path between offending Donald Trump and appeasing his threats to purchase – or seize – Greenland. The approach risks frustrating European colleagues at a critical juncture for the UK’s relationship with the EU.

On Monday morning, the prime minister held an “emergency” press conference to address Trump’s latest intervention on the high north, after the US president announced he would impose tariffs on the UK and other Nato allies who stood in his way. Trump said he would introduce a 10% levy on imports into the US on 1 February, rising to 25% from the summer if no deal is made.

Having already issued a statement on Sunday night saying “applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of Nato allies is completely wrong”, Starmer raised expectations that he may go further than he has so far.

But unlike some EU allies, Starmer rejected the idea of retaliatory tariffs and said the UK would seek to resolve the issue through “calm discussion”.

He made clear the UK was not shifting on the principle of sovereignty. “Any decision about the future status of Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark alone. That right is fundamental, and we will support it,” Starmer said.

Noting that Denmark’s Nato membership had come “at a real human cost” – a nod to the fact that it lost more soldiers per capita in Afghanistan than the US itself – Starmer stressed again that “the use of tariffs against allies is completely wrong”.

The mild tone of his comments puts him at odds with some on the continent even so, most notably the French president. Emmanuel Macron used emergency talks on Sunday night to urge EU allies to deploy their “trade bazooka”, the bloc’s thus-far unused Anti-Coercion Instrument, with reports indicating Brussels is preparing €93bn (£80.6bn) in retaliatory tariffs.

Starmer’s approach also differs from those of political rivals to his left. He claims that taking a “constructive” line with Trump so far is “delivering” and issued a veiled attack on the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, and the Green party leader, Zack Polanski, criticising those “who think an angry social media post or grandstanding is a substitute for hard work”.

Starmer has so far been backed by Kemi Badenoch and other senior Tories including the former chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who acknowledged the sovereignty of a Nato ally had to be a red line, but said allies were “more likely to resolve the crisis by resolute private discussion than public grandstanding”.

Even Nigel Farage, the Reform party leader, who describes Trump as his friend, has said that while the threat of tariffs was “wrong”, Britain is “in a position where we can negotiate”.

Europhile Labour figures are privately hoping this is a moment that could be capitalised on to advance the case for rebuilding bridges with key EU allies.

Noting that some of the “older guard” in No 10 were more in favour of pressing the case for the US-UK special relationship, sources talked up the “special relationship with Europe and France” instead.

That relationship could yet be tested in the coming days. EU leaders will hold an emergency summit on Thursday in Brussels, where the “bazooka” will be further discussed. For now, like the UK, the bloc is prioritising diplomacy.

Ahead of that meeting, EU leaders are descending on the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Trump will speak on Wednesday and the theme of the year is: “A Spirit of Dialogue”. Farage, a longstanding critic of Davos, will also be there. Starmer was not planning to attend but is said to be reconsidering in light of the deepening rift over Greenland. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, who was always expected to attend Davos, pulled out of an event in the City of London due to take place on Monday evening.

Photograph: Tom Nicholson/Getty