British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to the media in the briefing room of 9 Downing Street in central London, Britain, after U.S. president Donald Trump's threats to ramp up tariffs until a deal is reached for the U.S. to buy Greenland. Picture date: Monday January 19, 2026. Jordan Pettitt/Pool via REUTERS
LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would not yield to Donald Trump on his opposition to U.S. demands to acquire Greenland, adding that the U.S. president had reversed his prior support for a Chagos Islands deal to put pressure on Britain.
Starmer has called for "calm discussion" on Greenland and indicated on Monday he did not wish to escalate a trade war, after Trump threatened tariffs on Britain and other European countries unless he was allowed to buy Greenland.
The next day Trump said Britain had been stupid and weak to agree a deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean in order to secure the future of a U.S.-UK air base there. When the deal was announced, Trump's administration expressed support for it.
Starmer has sought close ties with Trump in order to preserve trade and security ties, but in some of his sharpest criticism of Trump, Starmer said he would not be bullied into changing his view that the future of Greenland should be decided by its people and by Denmark.
'FOOLHARDY' TO RIP UP RELATIONSHIP WITH U.S.
"I will not yield, Britain will not yield, on our principles and values about the future of Greenland under threats of tariffs, and that is my clear position," Starmer told lawmakers, adding the Danish prime minister would visit London on Thursday.
Starmer said that Trump's criticism of the Chagos Islands deal with Mauritius was because "he wants me to yield on my position, and I'm not going to do so".
"President Trump deployed words on Chagos yesterday that were different from his previous words of welcome and support," 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."
In response to questions from lawmakers urging Starmer to go further in standing against Trump, Starmer said it was still important to work with the U.S. on issues such as Ukraine.
"That does not mean we agree with the U.S. on everything," he said. "But it is foolhardy to think that we should rip up our relationship with the U.S., abandon Ukraine and so many other things that are important to our defence, security and intelligence."
(Reporting by Muvija M and Sarah Young; Writing by Alistair Smout; Editing by Catarina Demony and Alison Williams)
