But in one of the most surprising climbdowns, prompting many to believe it was a ‘Taco' moment — Trump always chickens out — the American leader announced that he and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte had reached a “framework of a future deal” on Greenland on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.
With this, Trump withdrew his tariff threat on the European nations and seemed to put a pause on the US-European tensions that had emerged.
But what’s in the deal? Will it be acceptable to Denmark and Greenland, both of which have made it clear they will not relinquish sovereignty of the world’s largest island in the Arctic?
What’s been said about Greenland’s framework deal?
Two days after Trump and Rutte said that they had reached a “framework of a future deal” on Greenland, details remain scant on what exactly have the two sides agreed upon. As of Thursday evening, there was no pen to paper. There is no deal on the table and nothing has been agreed to, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
As of now, Trump has said that “further information will be made available as discussions progress,” and that he had picked US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to take on the negotiations.
What are the details we know about the Greenland deal?
As of now, what we do know about the deal is that it has given Washington “everything we wanted” and will be in force “forever”. “The time limit is infinity, meaning there is no time limit. It’s forever. You know, you’re about 99 years, 50 years. It’s forever. That was discussed,” Trump told reporters. “We can do anything we want. We can do military, we can do anything we want, and it’s being negotiated. And let’s see what happens. I think it’ll be good.”
According to officials who wish to remain anonymous, the US and Denmark will renegotiate a 1951 defence pact on Greenland. The decades-old agreement, updated in 2004, already essentially gives Washington carte blanche to ramp up its troop deployments provided it informs the authorities in Denmark and Greenland in advance.
The earlier deal already permitted the United States free reign to travel between the defence areas. And it even said the laws of Denmark couldn’t be used to prevent key personnel and their families from entering or exiting the defense areas. And CNN reported that it’s possible the new agreement could include even more US free reign.
US President Donald Trump speaks with Nato's Secretary-General Mark Rutte during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. AFP
Additional discussions are also being held about Trump’s Golden Dome “as it pertains to Greenland”. Inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome, the Golden Dome is a multi-layered missile defence programme, which is expected to be completed by the end of Trump’s term in 2029.
The new deal may also involve an enhanced role of Nato in Greenland, with Rutte saying that he discussed with Trump how to “ensure that the Chinese and the Russians will not gain access to the Greenland economy”, or militarily.
There are also conflicting reports on granting access to Greenland’s critical minerals. Rutte told Reuters that minerals exploitation was not discussed during his meeting with Trump. However, the Telegraph reports that talks have been held on rare earth mining.
What about Greenland’s sovereignty?
The matter of Greenland’s sovereignty, which has been at stake since Trump began his Greenland talks, was not discussed when Rutte sat down with the American leader.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who spoke to Rutte before and after his meeting with Trump, reinforced this message, saying: “The position of Denmark and that of Greenland are the same, and no negotiations were held yesterday with Nato about our sovereignty.”
It’s also unclear whether Denmark and Greenland have signed up to the deal. On Wednesday night following the Rutte-Trump meet, Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament, said that the idea that Nato should have anything to say about the territory’s sovereignty or minerals was “completely out of the question”.
Some Danish MPs were also angered by Greenland’s exclusion from Wednesday’s negotiations. “It’s not real negotiations; it’s two men who have had a conversation,” said Sascha Faxe to Sky News. “There can’t be a deal without having Greenland as part of the negotiations.”
The statue of missionary Hans Egede stands overlooking the city of Nuuk, Greenland. AFP
What comes next?
Following Trump and Rutte’s meeting, the American leader announced he was pulling back his threats to impose tariffs on eight of the United States' closest European allies. “This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all Nato nations,” Trump said a social media post. “Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st.”
These economic sanctions pushed transatlantic relations to near-crisis levels over the weekend, as the European nations contemplated responding with a powerful series of economic and trade moves.
As Sky News reported, we are now back at the position we were in last week when the Danish and Greenland foreign ministers met Trump’s team. They agreed then to form a “working group” to seek a middle ground which addressed Trump’s security concerns while not handing over Greenland’s sovereignty.
Now, both sides will look for a middle ground that doesn’t hand over Greenland to America. The question is will Trump accede to this?
With inputs from agencies
