Key events
US president Donald Trump has not treated Greenlanders with respect since expressing his renewed interest in acquiring the vast, mineral-rich Arctic island, Greenland’s prime minister was quoted on Monday as saying.
Trump reiterated his interest in acquiring the island during his address to Congress last Tuesday, painting a picture of prosperity and safety for the “incredible people” of Greenland, an autonomous territory of the kingdom of Denmark, Reuters reported.
Trump reaffirmed that message in a Truth Social post early on Monday, writing: “We will continue to keep you safe, as we have since World War II. We are ready to invest billions of dollars to create new jobs and make you rich.”
Greenland’s prime minister Mute Egede told Danish public broadcaster DR in an interview aired on Monday: “We deserve to be treated with respect, and I don’t think the US president has done that recently since he took office.”
“I think that the recent things the American president has been doing means that people don’t want to get as close to (the US) as they might have wanted in the past,” he added.
“We need to draw a line in the sand and put more effort into (cultivating relations with) the countries that show us respect for the future we want to build,” said Egede, in comments aired a day before Greenland holds a general election.
Egede has repeatedly said that Greenland, whose population is only 57,000, belongs to its people and that it should decide on its own future. He supports full independence for Greenland.
Republican lawmakers warn Trump tariffs hurting US business
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and will be bringing you the latest news over the next few hours.
We start with news that Republicans are growing concerned that president Donald Trump’s tariffs are hurting the US economy, with constituents telling them they are struggling financially.
Business owners, exporters and farmers have told lawmakers that Trump’s expanding trade war and threat of steep tariffs against Canada, Mexico and Europe are having a direct impact on business in the US, The Hill reports.
“The Canadian tariffs will definitely have a detrimental impact on the economy of Maine and on border communities in particular,” said senator Susan Collins. “We have for example a major paper mill in northern Maine right on the border that gets its pulp from Canada.”
“That mill alone, which is by far the biggest employer in the region, employs 510 people directly. I’ve talked to the owner of that mill, the imposition of a 25% tariff could be devastating,” she added.
“I have every major industry in Kentucky lobbying me against them; the cargo shippers, the farmers, the bourbon manufacturers, the home-builders, the home sellers – you name it – fence manufacturers,” senator Rand Paul told The Hill.
“The bourbon industry says they’re still hurt from the retaliatory tariffs” during Trump’s first term, he said. “So do the farmers.”
