WASHINGTON, January 18. /TASS/. The US President's decisions regarding Greenland will lead to the destruction of NATO, former CIA and State Department officer Larry Johnson told TASS commenting on new statements by US President Donald Trump.

"Trump's action is going to destroy NATO. It will establish a narrative that the Russians will be happy to spread around of the United States as an imperialist power that is ignoring international law and using force to take other countries," Johnson said commenting on Washington’s steps regarding Greenland.

In his opinion Trump is quite serious about the island.

"I thought it was a joke when he first came and said...But he's not joking," Johnson said,

"The fact that he [Trump - TASS] is threatening Sweden and Norway and Germany and England, this is not going to end well," the expert said.

According to him, Trump is now "trying to economically punish countries, using the dollar basically as the tool to punish countries."

"Whereas, you know, the whole purpose of tariffs originally was to offset economic disadvantage. This has nothing to do with an economic disadvantage. This [Washington’s recent decisions - TASS] has to do with political bullying," the analyst said.

Johnson stressed that Russia doesn't need Greenland, and Moscow hasn't signaled any claims to the island. In his view, Russia is drawing attention to the US leadership's refusal to adhere to international law, asserting that might makes right.

Talking to TASS, Michael O'Hanlon, director of research in the Foreign Policy Studies program and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, expressed confidence that Denmark would approve US requests to expand the number of American military facilities in Greenland.

"I disagree strongly with President Trump, on his basic idea that the United States has any right to Greenland, and moreover I am confident that if we wish to put more military bases on Greenland, Denmark will approve the idea," he said.

On January 17, Trump announced on Truth Social that the Washington administration has imposed 10% duties on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, Finland and the Netherlands, which will remain in force until agreements are reached on "the full and final acquisition of Greenland" by the United States.

This decision comes into effect on February 1, Trump added. As he stressed, from June 1, the rate of these duties will increase to 25%. Furthermore, Trump criticized Europe's intention to send its forces to Greenland, calling it "a very dangerous game." He argued that possession of Greenland is necessary to strengthen US national security and the effective deployment of the American Golden Dome missile defense system. Finally, the US leader expressed the opinion that the United States "for many years" subsidized "Denmark and all [other] countries of the European Union."

Greenland is part of Denmark as an autonomous territory. In 1951, Washington and Copenhagen, in addition to allied commitments to NATO, signed the Greenland Defense Treaty, under which the United States has committed itself to defending the island from possible aggression.