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Sir Keir Starmer has said he does not think Donald Trump would use military force to seize Greenland as he warned that Britain would incur “huge damage” from a trade war with the US.
In an emergency Downing Street press conference, Starmer criticised the US president’s threats over Greenland, saying that alliances were built on partnership and “not pressure”.
But the UK prime minister refused to follow EU leaders in talking about retaliatory tariffs if Trump followed through on his threat to increase tariffs on some Nato countries if he was not given control of the Arctic island.
In a divergence from the EU, which is considering major trade reprisals, Starmer said: “A tariff war is in no one’s interest. We have not got to that stage. My focus is on ensuring we don’t get to that stage.”
The prime minister suggested he did not think Trump was serious about taking Greenland by force. Asked if he thought the president would invade the island, he said: “I don’t actually. I think this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion.”
Starmer said he had explained to Trump on Sunday that the small Nato force that had been sent to Greenland was “clearly there to assess the risks from the Russians”, not in response to US ambitions in the region. “I hope there’s clarity on that,” he added.
Starmer indicated he would continue to try to de-escalate tensions by talking to the president behind the scenes, disappointing critics who want him to take a much tougher public stance against Trump.
The UK prime minister denounced “performative” politics and said Britain preferred “solutions over slogans”. He added: “It might make politicians feel good but it does nothing for working people.”
Starmer was speaking in response to warnings from Trump that he would impose a 10 per cent tariff — rising to 25 per cent — on countries including the UK that had recently sent military personnel to Greenland.
That threat drew some of Starmer’s strongest public criticism of Trump, although the prime minister chose his words carefully.
“Alliances endure because they are built on partnership, not pressure,” he said, adding that the threats from Trump were “completely wrong”.
Repeating his warning of a “downward spiral” if tensions escalated, Starmer said: “There is a potential for this to cause huge damage to the UK, whether that’s a trade war or the weakening of alliances.”
Starmer is resisting pressure to go further in his public denunciations of Trump, arguing that his efforts to court the US president had yielded preferential trade deals and had won him a hearing in the White House.
The latest move by Trump leaves Starmer politically exposed but the prime minister insisted he would be delivering a tough message behind the scenes: “Partnership doesn’t mean abandoning principles,” he said.
He added: “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 support it.”
Starmer said he was “co-ordinating very closely with the EU” on how to respond to Trump’s Greenland ambitions, even though there was a sharp rhetorical divide on the likelihood of trade reprisals.
Downing Street said it was not yet confirmed whether Starmer would attend the World Economic Forum in Davos this week for talks with Trump, although British officials privately said it was very likely he would be there.
Separately, Starmer also said Britain was willing to play its part in securing peace in Gaza, but it was “talking to allies about the terms of the “board of peace” being set up by Trump to oversee the territory.