TRUMP STRIKES GREENLAND DEAL
Donald Trump announced on Wednesday night that he had struck a deal on the future of Greenland after talks with the head of Nato.
Mr Trump said he had agreed upon a “future framework” for Greenland and the “entire Arctic region” during a “very productive meeting” with Mark Rutte, Nato’s secretary general.
The US president dropped his threat of punitive 10 per cent trade tariffs on the UK and other European countries after announcing a “long-term deal” on Greenland. The European allies had refused to support his plan to annex Greenland.
The announcement came only hours after Mr Trump had demanded the immediate right to buy Greenland from Denmark during a meandering two-hour speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He had berated European allies who had opposed his threat to seize Greenland, insisting that the US was owed the island in return for defeating the Nazis during the Second World War.
Mr Trump declined in a series of interviews on Wednesday night to explain the terms of the deal, but insisted it was “very long-term” and “infinite”.
He told reporters at Davos: “It’s a deal that people jumped at, really fantastic for the USA, gets everything we wanted, including especially real national security and international security.”
He said an agreement was also being thrashed out on his “Golden Dome” project to place missiles on Greenland to protect the US from an attack by Russia.
Well-placed sources told The Telegraph that the proposed deal stopped short of the sale of Greenland to the US.
Instead, the framework agreed in Davos would allow the US to have sovereign control of military bases in parts of Greenland.
In a proposal mimicking Britain’s agreement with Cyprus, the bases would be considered US soil.
It would allow the US to perform military operations, intelligence, and training, while also facilitating some local development, potentially including rare earth mining.
Mr Rutte said he had not discussed the key issue of Danish sovereignty over Greenland in his meeting with the US president.
“He’s very much focused on what do we need to do to make sure that that huge Arctic region, where change is taking place at the moment, where the Chinese and Russians are more and more active, how we can protect that,” he said in a televised interview with Fox News on Wednesday night.
In his surprise announcement on Truth Social, his social media platform, Mr Trump wrote: “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.”
He went on: “Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st. Additional discussions are being held concerning The Golden Dome as it pertains to Greenland.”
A Nato spokesman said that the meeting between Mr Rutte and Mr Trump “was very productive”, and negotiations between Denmark, Greenland and the US would follow to ensure “that Russia and China never gain a foothold, economically or militarily, in Greenland”.
“Discussions among Nato allies on the framework the president referenced will focus on ensuring Arctic security through the collective efforts of the allies, especially the Arctic allies,” the statement continued.
Denmark, which is not thought to have been involved in the discussions so far, declined to give its approval. But on Wednesday, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the Danish foreign minister, said that he welcomed Mr Trump’s decision to withdraw the threat of tariffs.
European Union leaders will still proceed with an emergency summit on Thursday, which was called to co-ordinate a response to the president’s threats over the Arctic island.
Wall Street stocks rose sharply after Mr Trump reversed course on the threat of a trade war, recovering from steep declines earlier in the week.
Mr Trump’s announcement came in stark contrast to dire warnings issued during his much-anticipated speech at Davos. In it, he demanded immediate negotiations to buy Greenland and said Europe owed the island to America for saving the Continent in the Second World War.
The US president said he was “seeking immediate negotiations” to acquire the “big, beautiful piece of ice” and added that Washington would “remember” if Denmark said no.
He called Denmark “ungrateful” for the protection that the US offered and told world leaders gathered at Davos that “without us, right now you’d all be speaking German and a little Japanese perhaps.”
Mr Trump ruled out an invasion of the island but instead insisted he would buy it.
He said he would only accept “title and ownership” of the territory, not a lease agreement. “Who the hell wants to defend a licence agreement,” he added.
“We probably won’t get anything unless we use excessive force and strength,” Mr Trump said, before adding: “I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”
His speech marked a move away from military threats to a negotiated settlement for the island, which he said only the US could protect from Russia and China. That appeared to pave the way for the deal agreed with Mr Rutte.
Nato mission ‘on the back burner’
The Telegraph understands that Nato’s chiefs of defence staff in Europe had put plans for a military mission to Greenland on the back burner to allow for political tensions to subside.
While some allies had pushed for an immediate deployment to the region, military chiefs decided that a mission would risk political escalation.
Mr Trump’s speech came a day after European leaders hit back at US efforts to acquire Greenland, warning against bullying and greed of world powers.
Moments before Mr Trump took to the stage in Switzerland, Sir Keir Starmer told the House of Commons he would not “yield” to Mr Trump’s demands on Greenland.
Mr Trump said America had given so much to Nato but not received enough in return.
“All we’re asking for is Greenland … because you can’t defend it.
“If there is a war, much of the action will take place on that piece of ice. Those missiles will be flying over that piece of ice.”
Deal ‘will enhance security’
As he called for the transfer of the territory, Mr Trump reminded his audience of his surprise strike on Venezuela.
“No nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States,” he said.
“What a great power, much greater than people even understand. I think they found out two weeks ago in Venezuela.”
Claiming that American presidents had tried to acquire Greenland for two centuries, the president said it would “not be a threat to Nato. This would greatly enhance the security of the entire alliance.”
By turns wheedling and threatening, he said that if America was granted Greenland, “we will be very appreciative” – but he warned that “we will remember” if the answer was no.
Mr Trump dwelt at length on the historical and military case for a transfer of ownership, in an apparent attempt to jolt negotiations in his favour.
Nato leaders had presented a united front in rejecting America’s absorption of the territory colonised by Denmark 300 years ago.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, had been among those most fiercely opposed and French officials had argued for the use of the EU’s “bazooka”, blocking US companies from the continent’s internal market. France’s reaction to the proposed deal had not been made on Wednesday night.
The government of Greenland had earlier in the day announced a “crisis” brochure for citizens amid the threat of a US takeover. The brochure recommends that citizens stockpile three litres of water per person for five days, and non-perishable food for the same amount of time.
2026-01-21T22:00:49Z