US President Donald Trump said Wednesday evening that he and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte had formulated a “framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland,” hours after remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos that heightened European concern over his demand that the United States control the vast Danish-owned island. NATO has not responded to the claim.
“Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region. This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations. Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st.”
Trump speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos
(Video: Reuters)
6 View gallery
Trump and Rutte during their meeting today on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland
(Photo: AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The tariffs were Trump’s way of punishing several European countries that opposed his push to take control of Greenland.
Trump said Greenland is important to the United States in part because of the “Golden Dome” air defense system he ordered developed last year, inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome. His comments appeared tied to the island’s strategic importance for the US military, which operates an early warning system there for ballistic missiles, as the shortest route from Europe to North America passes through the Arctic island.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said further discussions were underway regarding the Golden Dome in the context of Greenland. He added that Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and others would be responsible for the negotiations and would report directly to him.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump recalled how the United States prevented a Nazi takeover of Greenland after Denmark was occupied by Germany during World War II. The US took control of the island under an agreement with the Danish ambassador in Washington and returned it to Copenhagen after the war, while continuing to operate several military bases there, only one of which remains today.
Trump said the United States had rescued Greenland during the war and later returned it to Denmark, questioning the wisdom of that decision. He also joked that without US mobilization in World War II, Europeans would now be speaking German, and perhaps some Japanese.
Trump described Denmark as “ungrateful,” minutes after saying he respects Denmark and Greenland, which enjoys autonomy and whose residents largely oppose US annexation. Against the backdrop of European warnings that a forcible takeover of Greenland could lead to NATO’s collapse, Trump argued his demand does not threaten the alliance and would instead strengthen it. For the first time, he also clarified that he would not use force.
Trump said the United States could likely achieve nothing unless it resorted to overwhelming force, which he said would make it effectively unstoppable, but stressed that he has no intention of using force and does not want to do so.
Trump has repeatedly said he wants Greenland under US control because China and Russia are eyeing the island, and that without American control, it could fall into their hands. Critics argue his plan is driven by a desire to access Greenland’s valuable natural resources, or by personal ambition and a desire to prove he can achieve anything he wants.
Greenland belongs to Denmark, which, like the United States, is a NATO member. An invasion by another NATO country would in principle obligate the alliance’s other members to come to Denmark’s defense. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that such a scenario could lead to NATO’s collapse.
6 View gallery
A protest in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, against Trump’s takeover threats
(Photo: AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Trump described Greenland as a vital strategic asset needed to help protect the world, saying approval would be welcomed, but rejection would be remembered.
During his speech, Trump mistakenly referred several times to Greenland as Iceland and said that NATO members had been supportive of him until he raised the issue in recent days.
He added that he wants immediate negotiations over acquiring the island, despite repeated assurances from Greenlandic and Danish officials that it is not for sale, arguing that the United States has given much to NATO while receiving little in return — a stance that amounts to a demand for control over part of another sovereign country.
Denmark, he noted, sent troops to fight and die alongside US forces in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks. Trump pledged the United States would be “100%” committed to NATO but said he is “not sure” the alliance would always stand by the US.