US President Donald Trump backed down Wednesday on threats to seize Greenland by force from ally Denmark, announcing a vague deal aimed at ensuring security of the Arctic territory.
Trump cast his retreat — also lifting the promise of sanctions against European nations that spoke out against the threats to Denmark — as a win, saying the deal gives Washington “everything we wanted”.
The agreement, he told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, was negotiated with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and would last “forever”.
“I think it puts everybody in a really good position, especially as it pertains to security, and minerals and everything else,” Trump said, hours after a speech in which he appeared to remove the threat of force to seize Greenland.
However, there was no sign that Trump had succeeded in his repeated vow to make Greenland part of the United States.
When asked if Denmark would continue to control the territory, Rutte said the subject of Greenland’s sovereignty “did not come up” in his talks with Trump.
Speaking to Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Rutte gave few details of what the new status for Greenland might be, only saying that NATO would continue to work for securing the Arctic region from adversaries such as Russia or China.
Meanwhile, “there’s still a lot of work to be done,” the NATO leader told AFP.
In a social media post, Trump threatened to remove taxes of up to 25% against Denmark and other European allies, such as Britain, France, and Germany, that had committed troops to Greenland in support.
NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said that Denmark, Greenland, and the United States will negotiate on “ensuring that Russia and China never gain a foothold — economically or militarily — in Greenland” — a key stated concern of Trump.
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