NATO vs NATO over Greenland? What is the alliance, who are its members, and what does it actually do?

With US President Donald Trump's tariffs on eight European allies, is NATO under threat? StoneX senior analyst Matt Simpson was quoted by Reuters as saying, "With Trump throwing tariffs into the mix, it is clear that his threat to Greenland is real, and that we could be one step closer to the end of NATO and political imbalances within Europe."

Trump wants to buy or annex Greenland, and has imposed 10 percent tariffs against nations which oppose the US' control over Greenland. Trump has not ruled out using force to take it, raising alarm in Europe at the prospect of direct confrontation between NATO states.

The US President has also refused to rule out the option of leaving NATO over Greenland. When asked whether he would “pull out of NATO if it doesn't help you acquire Greenland,” Trump responded by saying, “We’re going to see.”

On Sunday, Trump said that Denmark has not been able to do anything to get the "Russian threat" away from Greenland, and said, "Now it is time, and it will be done!!!"

"NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that ‘you have to get Russian threat away from Greenland.’ Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it," Trump wrote in a post on the social media website he owns called Truth Social.

But what is NATO? Why was it formed? Who are the members? Let's delve into this strategic alliance

Besides, Article 4 of the Washington Treaty ensures consultations among allies on security matters of common interest, which expanded from the Soviet threat to the mission in Afghanistan, peacekeeping in Kosovo, terrorism, new threats to security such as cyber attack and piracy that affect the alliance and its global network of partners.

Besides its role in the territorial defense of Allied nations, NATO leads the UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and has ongoing missions in the Balkans and the Mediterranean.

It also conducts extensive training exercises and offers security support to partners around the globe, including the European Union in particular but also the United Nations and the African Union.

Albania, Belgium, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Türkiye, United Kingdom, United States.

Trump earlier vowed to implement a wave of increasing tariffs on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that starting February 1, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Finland will be charged 10 percent tariff on all goods they export to the US. All these countries, including the US, are members of NATO.

Meanwhile, Danish and other European officials have claimed that Greenland is already covered by NATO's collective security pact.