Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calls the threat “stupid” and the result of a “quixotic” ambition.
The US Democratic Party opposition will try to prevent President Donald Trump from carrying out his threat to impose additional 10 percent tariffs on European countries involved in maneuvers in Greenland starting February 1, according to an announcement by the party’s leader in the upper house of the US Congress, Chuck Schumer.
Schumer, head of the minority caucus, announced late Saturday that senators will attempt to introduce legislation specifically aimed at blocking the tariff increase, which he described as “stupid.”
“Donald Trump’s reckless actions have already driven up prices and harmed our economy, and now he’s just making things worse,” Schumer said in a statement posted on the Democratic caucus’s website.
“It’s unbelievable that he wants to double down on his stupidity by imposing tariffs on our closest allies in his quixotic attempt to acquire Greenland,” he said, before confirming that “Senate Democrats will introduce legislation to block these tariffs before they further harm the American economy and our allies in Europe.”
Currently, Republicans, with 53 seats, control the US Senate. Democrats are in the minority, with 45 seats (plus two independents), but Trump’s stance on Greenland is proving particularly uncomfortable for his senators.
For example, a bipartisan committee of senators who are members of the NATO Observer Group declared their support this past Friday for the Danish and Greenlandic authorities against Trump’s intentions to gain control of the island. “At a time when many Americans are already worried about the cost of living, these tariffs would raise prices for both families and businesses,” they said in a joint statement, urging the administration to “de-escalate the threats and pursue diplomacy.”
