President Donald Trump said Friday that he may impose tariffs on any country that doesn’t support the United States acquisition of Greenland. 

While Trump has repeatedly said that he would like to take over Greenland for national security purposes, Denmark has rebuffed those calls, which currently controls the Arctic island. Trump suggested Friday he may impose some form of economic penalty on countries that block his plans. 

“I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland because we need Greenland for national security,” Trump said during a roundtable discussion on rural health care. “So, I may do that.”

Trump’s comments come after a Wednesday meeting between Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance. 

After that meeting, Rasmussen indicated that Denmark would not budge on giving up Greenland. He said that the meeting was “frank and constructive,” but ultimately the sides agreed to disagree, with Denmark sticking firm to its “red lines.”

Trump later said on Friday that he was working with NATO on getting Greenland. 

“NATO has been dealing with us on Greenland. We need Greenland for national security very badly. If we don’t have it, we have a hole in national security, especially when it comes to what we’re doing in terms of the Golden Dome and all of the other things,” he said. 

Trump said on Sunday that Greenland would fall under the control of Russia or China if the United States did not step in. 

“If we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will take Greenland, and I am not going to let that happen,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One. “I’d love to make a deal with them. It’s easier. But one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland.”

Trump said that Greenland’s security consisted of “two dog sleds” while Russian and Chinese submarines and destroyers encircled the island. 

Trump’s rhetoric on Greenland has largely been opposed by Democrats and some Republicans. A delegation of senators, including Chris Coons (DE), Thom Tillis (NC), and Lisa Murkowski (AK), traveled to Denmark on Friday to back Denmark’s control of Greenland. 

“The signals are clear,” Murkowski said. “I think you will find that support in Congress to acquire Greenland in any way is not there.”

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado expressed optimism in Washington, D.C., on Friday following her meetings with President Donald Trump and lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week.

“We are definitely now into the first steps of a true transition to democracy that will have not only immense impact in the lives of Venezuelans,” she said at a press conference at The Heritage Foundation. Machado said she was “impressed” by how much the president knew about the situation in Venezuela, saying the president “understands the moment” and the “implication for the whole hemisphere.”

“It took a lot of courage to do what he did,” she said regarding the Jan. 3 military operation that resulted in the capture and arrest of dictator Nicolás Maduro.

Machado, who won the coveted Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, gifted Trump her Nobel medal as the two discussed the next steps for the South American nation.

Shortly after Maduro was brought to the U.S. to face federal narcoterrorism charges, Trump said that Machado did not have the “respect” of the country to be its leader. Prior to Maduro’s arrest, The Daily Wire asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the relationship between the U.S. and Machado, with Rubio noting that it had been a while since he and the opposition leader had spoken, saying she “was in hiding.”

Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, is now the acting president of the country, albeit with staunch oversight from the United States.

After their Thursday meeting, Trump posted to Truth Social that “It was [his] Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today. She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented [him] with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”

However, when asked about the leftist acting president, Machado said, “This has nothing to do with tension or decision between Delcy Rodriguez or myself … This is about the cartel and justice. This is about a criminal regime, and the mandate of the Venezuelan people.”

Trump has adopted more of a conciliatory tone toward Rodriguez, saying that they spoke earlier this week and that “she’s a terrific person,” according to Politico.

“This morning I had a very good call with the Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez. We are making tremendous progress, as we help Venezuela stabilize and recover,” the president said in a Wednesday post to Truth Social. “Many topics were discussed, including Oil, Minerals, Trade and, of course, National Security. This partnership between the United States of America and Venezuela will be a spectacular one FOR ALL. Venezuela will soon be great and prosperous again, perhaps more so than ever before!”

Although it’s still very early in the process of navigating Venezuela’s future, Machado explained that she thinks that the “regime is forced to dismantle themselves” and that there are major steps needed to truly become a democratic nation once again, including the closure of “torture centers,” the liberation of political prisoners, and “guarantees for journalists to speak out.”

“There is a criminal structure of terror … not only of the civilian population but also in the military,” she said. When it comes to having fair elections in Venezuela, she stressed that it’s important for Venezuelans still in the country and around the globe to believe democracy is on the horizon, and she believes people will be willing to return to the country if that is the case.

Maduro remained in power following the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, with international concerns that it was not conducted fairly. Maduro was up against Edmundo Gonzalez, a political ally of Machado.

In the press conference Friday, she stressed the importance of voting rights for Venezuelans. When it comes to her own political ambitions, she told “Fox & Friends” in an interview that aired Friday morning that she is confident she will lead the South American nation one day.

“I believe I will be elected, when the right time comes, as president of Venezuela,” she told the outlet.