‘Will not yield’ to Trump’s pressure: Starmer on Greenland and Chagos Today World News

Under pressure to toe a harder line with regard to U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions to acquire Greenland, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would not yield to pressure on the Arctic island, while also defending the 2025 U.K.-Mauritius treaty on the Chagos Archipelago.

“I will not yield… Britain will not yield… on our principles and values on the future of Greenland under threats of tariffs,” Mr. Starmer told the U.K. House of Commons during the weekly Prime Ministers Questions (PMQs) on Wednesday (January 21, 2026).

However, Mr. Starmer said he would continue to engage with Mr. Trump on the issue and “simply hurtling at the first opportunity into a trade war” would harm working people and businesses across the U.K.

Mr. Trump has threatened a 10% (escalating to 25% in June 2026) additional tariff on the U.K. and seven EU countries in order to effect the transfer of Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, to the U.S.

Mr. Starmer was asked in parliament whether he would take a stronger position against the U.S. President, as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron had done.

Mr. Carney had urged middle powers to work together in multiple groupings to regain sovereignty in the face of pressure from the ‘Great Powers’, during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday (Janauary 20, 2026).

Mr. Trump has repeatedly spoken of his appreciation for Britain and for Mr. Starmer, but the relationship has come under strain in recent days, with Mr. Trump threatening tariffs on the U.K. and other European countries. Earlier this week, Mr. Trump called the U.K.-Mauritius deal an act of “great stupidity” and “great weakness” on Britain’s part, despite giving the agreement the go ahead earlier in 2025.

The deal involves the U.K. recognising the sovereignty of Mauritius (a former colony) over the archipelago, which contains the island of Diego Garcia, home to a U.S.-U.K. airbase. The U.K. would have control over Diego Garcia by leasing it for 99 years at an average cost of £101 million per year.

Mr. Trump’s latest position on Chagos was different from his earlier position of support, Mr. Starmer told MPs, words Mr. Starmer said.

“He deployed those words yesterday for the express purpose of putting pressure on me and Britain, in relation to my values and principles on the future of Greenland,” he added.

“He wants me to yield on my position, and I’m not going to do so,” Mr. Starmer said as he chided Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch for expressing her opposition to the Chagos during a geopolitically fraught moment. (Ms. Badenoch supported Mr. Starmer’s position on Greenland).

Mr. Starmer reiterated his position that using tariffs “to pressurise allies” was “completely wrong” and that the future of Greenland was for Greenland and Denmark alone to decide.