US President Donald Trump has dropped his threat to impose tariffs on European countries that oppose control of Greenland, ruling out the possibility of using force to seize the territory. This is a stunning turn in a dispute that has brought transatlantic relations to their lowest decline in decades.
President Trump said Wednesday he would not implement the planned tariffs after agreeing with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on a “framework” for a future deal that would include Greenland and the Arctic region.
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“Once completed, this solution will be a great solution for the United States and all NATO countries,” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social after meeting with Rutte on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
President Trump said talks are also underway regarding the Golden Dome project, a proposed missile defense shield, and territory.
Trump’s post did not provide details about the framework.
In brief remarks to reporters at Davos, the president said the framework would address “security and minerals and everything else.”
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Rutte provided few details about the framework and dodged a question about whether the United States would take ownership of the islands.
“We basically discussed how we can realize the president’s vision of protecting not only Greenland but the entire Arctic,” Rutte said.
Asked by Fox News’ Bret Baier if Denmark would continue to exercise its sovereignty over Greenland under the framework, Rutte said: “That question did not come up.”
NATO spokeswoman Alison Hart told Al Jazeera that Rutte “did not propose any compromise to sovereignty” during his talks with Trump.
Hart said the meeting was “productive” and said the framework would focus on allies’ “joint efforts” to keep the Arctic safe.
“Negotiations between Denmark, Greenland and the United States will proceed with the aim of ensuring that Russia and China never gain a foothold in Greenland, both economically and militarily,” she said.
Ole Weber, a professor of international relations at the University of Copenhagen, expressed doubts that Trump’s framework would amount to anything more than a “sham” deal to save face.
“NATO cannot negotiate territorial ownership of minerals or bases. Of course, it can agree on future priorities in the Arctic,” Weber told Al Jazeera.
“Probably the main process goes back to the foreign ministers’ meeting in Washington, where Denmark and Greenland tried to land. A bureaucratic committee would come up with a defense plan and perhaps some kind of renewal of the defense agreement.”
President Trump has for weeks threatened to seize control of Denmark’s semi-autonomous region of Greenland, casting doubt on the future of the NATO military alliance and about $1.7 trillion of transatlantic trade.
President Trump had threatened to impose 10% tariffs on Denmark and seven other European countries starting February 1st, rising to 25% starting June 1st unless the US agreed to buy the island.
President Trump has repeatedly accused Denmark of not doing enough to secure Greenland’s territorial waters in the Arctic, arguing that the island is critical to Washington’s security given China and Russia’s ambitions in the region.
Denmark said Greenland was not for sale and any attempt to seize the island by force would mean the end of NATO, the 32-nation transatlantic alliance that includes both the United States and Denmark.
“Natural criticism”
President Trump’s pivot to tariffs came hours after he told international leaders gathered in Davos that he would not use force to annex Greenland. However, he insisted that only the United States could “secure” this vast, mineral-rich territory.
“People expected me to use force. I don’t need to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force,” Trump said, adding, “I want immediate negotiations to re-talk about acquiring Greenland.”
“We need it for strategic national security and international security,” President Trump said. “This huge insecure island is actually part of North America. It’s our territory.”
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen welcomed President Trump’s announcement.
“The day is ending better than when it began. We welcome the President’s decision to eliminate the possibility of an armed occupation of Greenland and suspend the trade war,” Rasmussen said in a statement on social media.
But Rasmussen reiterated in interviews with local media that Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland was a “red line that should not be crossed.”
“I’d be happy to tell him to his face. I’ve said other things to his face as well. I think I can handle that,” Rasmussen told public broadcaster DR.
“It’s not going to happen that the U.S. owns Greenland.”
Leaders of other European countries welcomed President Trump’s decision to lift the threatened tariffs.
“It is positive that we are now on the path to de-escalation and that the 10% import tariff is off the table,” Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schauff said.
“Now it is critical that the United States, Canada, and Europe continue to work together within NATO to strengthen security in the Arctic and counter threats from Russia and China.”
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmar Schnagård said Trump’s request had been met with “deserved criticism.”
“That’s also why we have reiterated that we will not be intimidated,” Schnagard said. “Cooperation with allies appears to have had an impact.”
Weber, a professor at the University of Copenhagen, said he doubted that even if there were some progress in Greenland, relations between the United States and Europe would return to normal.
“The intimacy and dependence that we had in the past has not returned,” he said.
“We also expect that for the remainder of the Trump presidency, the two countries will keep their guns close on arms trade, but that it could escalate again over a wide range of issues, particularly regulation of big tech companies.”
