Trump’s 10% tariff on European countries over Greenland great for Putin, Xi: US Senator Thom Tillis

US Senator Thom Tillis criticised President Donald Trump for imposing additional 10% import tariffs on eight European nations that have opposed US control of Greenland.

Tillis said on Saturday, "This response to our own allies for sending a small number of troops to Greenland for training is bad for America, bad for American businesses, and bad for America's allies."

He said, "It's great for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping] and other adversaries who want to see NATO divided."

"The fact that a small handful of 'advisors' are actively pushing for coercive action to seize territory of an ally is beyond stupid. It hurts the legacy of President Trump and undercuts all the work he has done to strengthen the NATO alliance over the years," Tillis said in a social media post.

Tillis is one of just two Republicans, along with Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who participated in a congressional delegation to Denmark while Trump threatens to seize Greenland.

Meanwhile, Murkowski called the tariffs “unnecessary, punitive, and a profound mistake.”

“They will push our core European allies further away while doing nothing to advance U.S. national security,” she wrote on X. “

We are already seeing the consequences of these measures in real time: our NATO allies are being forced to divert attention and resources to Greenland, a dynamic that plays directly into Putin’s hands by threatening the stability of the strongest coalition of democracies the world has ever seen," she said.

Murkowski also called on Congress to use its authority over Trump’s tariffs so they are “not weaponized in ways that harm our alliances and undermine American leadership.”

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said additional 10% import tariffs would take effect on February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Great Britain — all already subject to tariffs imposed by Trump.

Those tariffs would increase to 25% on June 1 and would continue until a deal was reached for the US to purchase Greenland, Trump wrote.

European nations this week sent military personnel to the island at Denmark's request. "These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable," Trump wrote.