US President Donald Trump said he is considering applying new tariffs on countries that oppose his ambition of annexing Greenland.
"I may put a tariff on countries if they don't go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that," Trump said during an event focused on health care at the White House.
The president made the remark as he recounted using tariffs to force other nations to cooperate on a plan to lower drug prices in the United States.
READ MORE: Why does Donald Trump want Greenland?
Trump's push to control Greenland has prompted outrage among European nations, who fear the move could rupture longstanding transatlantic ties.
Some have begun sending troops to the semiautonomous Arctic island that's currently a territory of Denmark.
Representatives from Greenland and Denmark visited the White House this week for inconclusive meetings about Trump's plans.
Trump has repeatedly turned to the threat of tariffs to achieve his foreign policy goals.
Earlier this week, he threatened 25 per cent tariffs, "effective immediately," on countries that do business with Iran.
But it's not apparent those have been officially enacted, and the White House has not responded to multiple inquiries.
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Trump's ability to put in place sweeping country-specific tariffs could soon be limited, with the Supreme Court expected to issue a verdict in a landmark case.
Regardless of how the justices rule, Trump will continue to have a plethora of ways to increase tariffs, but the alternatives are more limited than the approach he's taken to single out countries.
Meanwhile, one of his own party members has issued his own threat to Trump over the issue of Greenland.
Republican Congressman Don Bacon said his threats against countries defending Greenland is "absurd".
"Just on the weird chance that he's serious about invading Greenland, I want to let him know it would probably be the end of his presidency," Bacon said.
"Most Republicans know this is immoral and wrong, and we're going to stand up against it."
READ MORE: The truth behind Trump's demand for Greenland
Greenland, a resource-rich island of 2.16 million square kilometres, is a former Danish colony and now an autonomous territory of Denmark, situated in the Arctic.
It's the world's least densely populated country and is so remote that its 56,000 residents travel by boat, helicopter and plane between its towns, which are predominantly scattered along the island's western coast.
Nuuk, the territory's capital city, is emblematic of those towns, featuring brightly coloured houses crowded together between a jagged coastline and inland mountains.
Outside the towns, Greenland is mostly wilderness with 81 per cent of its land under ice. Nearly 90 per cent of its population is of Inuit origin and the territory's economy has long revolved around fishing.
READ MORE: Danish PM says US takeover of Greenland would be the end of NATO
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