Trump touts ‘total access’ Greenland deal as NATO asks allies to step up

President Donald Trump said on Thursday, January 22, he had secured total and permanent US access to Greenland in a deal with NATO, whose head said allies would have to step up their commitment to Arctic security to ward off threats from Russia and China.

News of a framework deal came as Trump backed off tariff threats against Europe and ruled out taking Greenland by force, bringing a degree of respite in what was brewing to be the biggest rupture in transatlantic ties in decades.

Trump’s U-turn triggered a rebound in European markets and a return toward record highs for Wall Street’s main indexes, but also raised questions about how much damage had already been done to transatlantic ties and business confidence.

Details of any agreement were unclear and Denmark insisted its sovereignty over the island was not up for discussion. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc’s US relations had “taken a big blow” in the past week, as EU leaders met for an emergency summit.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed Trump’s comments but said he was still in the dark on many aspects.

“I don’t know what there is in the agreement, or the deal, about my country,” he told reporters in the capital Nuuk.

“We are ready to discuss a lot of things and we are ready to negotiate a better partnership and so on. But sovereignty is a red line,” he said, when asked about reports that Trump was seeking control of areas around U.S. military bases in Greenland as part of a wider deal.

“We cannot cross the red lines. We have to respect our territorial integrity. We have to respect international law and sovereignty.”

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his return from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said a new deal was being negotiated that would be “much more generous to the United States, so much more generous.”

He skirted questions on sovereignty, but said: “We have to have the ability to do exactly what we want to do.”

Earlier Trump told Fox Business Network the deal would essentially bring “total access” for the United States.

“There’s no end, there’s no time limit.”

A source familiar with the matter said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Trump had agreed in Davos on further talks between the US, Denmark and Greenland on updating a 1951 agreement that governs U.S. military access and presence on the Arctic island.

The framework they discussed also calls for prohibiting Chinese and Russian investments in Greenland, the person said.

Another source familiar with the matter said what had been agreed was “a frame on which to build,” adding that “anything being reported on specific details is speculative.”

Rutte told Reuters in Davos it was now up to NATO’s senior commanders to work through the details of extra security requirements.

“I have no doubt we can do this quite fast. Certainly, I would hope for 2026, I hope even early in 2026,” he said.

Denmark says situation remains difficult

Trump’s ambition to wrest sovereignty over Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark has threatened to blow apart the alliance that has underpinned Western security since the end of World War Two and reignite a trade war with Europe.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said no negotiations had been held with NATO regarding the sovereignty of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.

“It is still a difficult and serious situation, but progress has also been made in the sense that we have now got things where they need to be. Namely that we can discuss how we promote common security in the Arctic region,” she said.

Speaking later ahead of the emergency summit of EU leaders, Frederiksen called for a “permanent presence of NATO in the Arctic region, including around Greenland.”

Kallas said “disagreements that allies have between them, like Europe and America, are just benefiting our adversaries who are looking and enjoying the view.”

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he hoped allies could put together a plan to boost Arctic security by a NATO summit in Ankara in July.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Rutte on Thursday that the UK stood ready to play its full part in ensuring security in the Arctic, a spokesperson said.

Military and minerals

After meeting with Rutte, Trump said there could be a deal that satisfies his desire for a “Golden Dome” missile-defence system and access to critical minerals while blocking what he says are Russia and China’s ambitions in the Arctic.

Rutte said minerals exploitation was not discussed in his meeting with Trump. Specific negotiations over the Arctic island would continue between the United States, Denmark and Greenland itself, he said.

The 1951 agreement established the US right to construct military bases in Greenland and move around freely in Greenlandic territory. This is still the case as long as Denmark and Greenland are informed of its actions. Washington has a base at Pituffik in northern Greenland.

“It is important to clarify that the US had 17 bases during the Cold War and much greater activity. So that is already possible now under the current agreement,” said Marc Jacobsen, a professor at the Royal Danish Defence College.

“I think there will be concrete discussions about Golden Dome, and I think there will be concrete discussions about Russia and China not being welcome in Greenland.”

China’s Foreign Ministry told Reuters on Friday that claims China is a threat are “baseless”, when asked to respond to the Arctic comments.

China opposes other countries using it as “an excuse” to push their own agenda, the ministry said.

China has repeatedly said its scientific expeditions in the Arctic and commercial shipping operations in the region followed international treaties and laws, accusing the West of distorting facts and hyping up its activities as clues to military intent.

Last week, the state-backed Global Times newspaper said in an editorial that it ” firmly opposed attempts by the United States and Europe to label China with terms such as ‘military threat,’ ‘resource grabber’ or ‘rule breaker’ in Arctic affairs.”

Greenlanders, EU leaders wary

The president of the European Parliament said the European Union will likely resume work on a trade deal with the United States after Trump took back his tariff threats. The parliament decided this week to suspend work on the deal because of Trump’s threats.

However, diplomats told Reuters EU leaders will rethink U.S. relations as the Greenland episode has badly shaken confidence in the transatlantic ties. Governments remain wary of another change of mind by Trump, who is increasingly seen as a bully whom Europe will have to stand up to, they said.

Residents in the Greenland capital, Nuuk, are also wary.

“It’s all very confusing,” said pensioner Jesper Muller.

“One hour we are, well, almost at war. Next hour everything is fine and beautiful, and I think it’s very hard to imagine that you can build anything on it.” – Rappler.com