UK plots Nato security deal in Arctic to stop Trump trade war

Sir Keir Starmer is poised to try and persuade Donald Trump not to annex Greenland by working with Nato allies on a plan to reassure the President that Europe can defend the Arctic.

The proposals are designed to boost the Danish island’s security, potentially by sending more troops, in a bid to ease Trump’s fears that it could fall into the hands of China or Russia unless the United States is given control of the territory.

At the same time the Prime Minister and senior Cabinet members are engaged in a diplomatic blitz of key US figures in a bid to get the President to drop his threat of a trade war with eight European countries if he is not handed Greenland.

It comes after Trump threatened tariffs on the eight Nato allies for opposing US control of the Arctic territory.

Starmer stressed the need for a “calm” response and signalled he was reluctant to be drawn into a tit-for-tat trade war with a vital ally, as he held an emergency press conference in Downing Street on Monday.

The i Paper understands that he is instead working with allies on an offer to the US to reassure Trump that Greenland can be kept safe without America having to take it over.

A Government source said Starmer spoke of the need to “step up our shared security” in talks with European allies at the weekend.

There are hopes that, like on security guarantees for Ukraine, Trump can be persuaded to back down from his more extreme position if he sees European allies stepping up to the plate as they have under Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron’s so-called “coalition of the willing”.

The PM also made clear that he told Trump in a call on Sunday that a small deployment of military officers to Greenland last week from the eight Nato countries was “clearly there to assess and work on risk from the Russians”.

It comes after observers suggested Trump had misunderstood the mission, which included one British military officer, as he said the eight allies were playing a “very dangerous game” while making his tariff threat. Once the President is convinced that the soldiers were there to boost Nato security, there are hopes he may be reassured.

Following the recon mission, Denmark said last week it was a precursor to a “more permanent military presence” with Nato countries participating on a rotating basis.

On Monday, there were reports that Denmark had already deployed around 100 soldiers to Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, while Canada was also considering sending troops.

Downing Street refused to say whether the UK was also considering sending more soldiers.

Starmer was on Monday night continuing his diplomatic blitz, hosting Trump ally Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, for talks in Downing Street.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Business Secretary Peter Kyle are likely to urge US officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week that Trump should back down from his threat of tariffs.

Trump said he would charge Britain a 10 per cent tariff “on any and all goods” sent to the US from February 1, increasing to 25 per cent from June 1, until a deal is reached for Washington to purchase Greenland from Denmark.

The President said the same would apply to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland – all of whom are members of Nato.

Starmer on Monday told reporters he does not believe Trump will invade Greenland. He insisted his tariff threats were “completely wrong” but signalled the UK would not retaliate because the “right way to approach an issue of this seriousness is through calm discussion between allies”.