President Trump halts tariff rollbacks after touting Greenland deal ‘framework’
President Trump said he would postpone imposing tariffs he had threatened on eight European countries over Greenland after agreeing to a framework for a deal with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
- President Donald Trump has backed away from his threat to annex Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.
- He also announced a “framework for future agreements” with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), saying he would not impose tariffs on eight European countries that had previously been threatened.
- President Trump’s repeal of tariffs has brought back the “TACO trade” jab. It means “Trump always flinches.”
President Donald Trump suddenly backed away from threatening to annex Greenland while in Europe.
President Trump has refused in recent weeks to rule out the possibility of the United States using military force to seize the ice island, a self-governing territory of NATO member Denmark. He stressed the need for the United States to control the island for national security.
However, President Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 21, “There is no need to use force. We do not want to use force. We will not use force. All the United States wants is a place called Greenland.”
Later that day, he announced that he had reached a “framework for a future agreement” with NATO on Greenland and would not impose the 10% tariffs on eight European countries that he had previously threatened.
The tariff whiplash is reminiscent of his first months as president, when the situation was fraught with tariffs on imports from countries ranging from the country’s largest trading partners to uninhabited islands. It was nicknamed the “TACO trade,” and some social media users quickly revived the moniker this week.
What does that mean?
What does taco mean?
Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong coined the term “TACO trade” in May to describe how some investors were expecting a market rebound amid repeated Trump tariffs.
This acronym stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
Armstrong described the TACO trade as a strategy for many investors to buy into a market that has fallen sharply on the assumption that President Trump will rescind his tariff orders, and that the market will rebound.
On May 28, President Trump fired back at a reporter who asked him about the term, saying, “You ask mean questions like that. That’s called negotiation.”
Why does Trump want Greenland?
“We need Greenland for our national security,” President Trump said at a press conference on December 22. “You look out on the coast and there are Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need that for national security. We have to have it.”
President Trump has repeatedly returned to national security as a reason for wanting Greenland. The island’s location may also be strategic for the US ballistic missile warning system. In a Jan. 14 post on Truth Social, he said it was “essential to the Golden Dome we are building.”
The island also has important minerals used in industries in which China has near-monopoly power. Greenland has deposits of major minerals such as graphite, copper, nickel, zinc, tungsten, and lithium, all of which are used in the production of modern technology. However, there is currently little mining in Greenland. President Trump also said he has no interest in Greenland, which is rich in mineral resources.
“We have so many mines for minerals, oil and everything else, we have more oil than any other country in the world,” Trump said.
The leaders of Greenland and Denmark, with support from other European leaders, have repeatedly denounced President Trump’s claims that the United States would take over Greenland.
Contributors: Francesca Chambers, Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Joey Garrison, USA TODAY
Kinsey Crowley is a Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Please contact KCrowley@usatodayco.com. follow her X (Twitter), blue sky and TikTok.
