Trump Announces ‘Framework’ for Greenland Deal — Won’t Say if US Ownership Still Needed
By Steven Nelson, Emily Goodin and Caitlin Doornbos
President Trump abruptly announced a “framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland” Wednesday — calling off tariffs on European allies and declining to say if he still is demanding US ownership of the world’s largest island.
“We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,” Trump wrote on Truth Social after meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Davos, Switzerland.
“This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations. Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st.”
The Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average indices all reacted positively to the news with modest gains as of mid-afternoon.
Trump had spent months developing a crescendo of pressure on Denmark to hand over control of Greenland, insisting that nothing short of US “ownership” would be acceptable, and he was coy about the precise outcome he foresees.
Asked if he still intends to acquire the vast Arctic territory through the framework deal, Trump paused, then deflected.
“It’s a long-term deal. It’s the ultimate long-term deal, and I think it puts everybody in a really good position, especially as it pertains to security and minerals and everything else,” he told reporters.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said that “if this deal goes through, and President Trump is very hopeful it will, the United States will be achieving all of its strategic goals with respect to Greenland, at very little cost, forever.”
“As details are finalized by all parties involved, they will be released accordingly,” she said.
In an interview with CNBC, Trump said he and Rutte established a “concept of a deal” — without specifying whether his yearning for US expansion would be granted.
A White House official told The Post that Trump’s conciliatory public posture hadn’t altered his preferred endgame, however, and that “the goal is to acquire Greenland.”
A European official told The Post that Rutte has floated Denmark transferring to the US sovereignty over Pituffik Space Base in northern Greenland.
The strategically important installation has been under US control since a 1951 defense agreement with Denmark, but the land legally belongs to the Danes. It’s possible other pockets of land also would be included in a deal, the New York Times reported.
A land cession for bases would fall short of Trump’s original proposal for complete US ownership while still cementing him in the history books for expanding American territory for the first time since World War II when the Northern Mariana Islands were taken from Japan.
The notion also has historical precedent. The British government, for example, has sovereignty over two military bases on Cyprus pursuant to a 1960 treaty.
Trade war averted, military conquest ruled out
Trump’s remarkable pressure campaign to extend US territory into the far north had included his Saturday threat of a 10% tariff “on any and all goods” from the UK, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland as punishment for opposing his request. He said those tariffs would begin Feb. 1 and increase to 25% on June 1 without a deal.
But now he’s rescinded that plan, saying Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will lead discussions on Greenland.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Rasmussen, who choked down a cigarette after unsuccessfully trying to sway the US position last week at a summit with Vance and Rubio, praised the off-ramp announced Wednesday.
“The day is ending on a better note than it began,” Rasumussen exhaled on X. “We welcome that POTUS has ruled out to take Greenland by force and paused the trade war. Now, let’s sit down and find out how we can address the American security concerns in the Arctic while respecting the red lines of the [Kingdom of Denmark].”
Greenland was the main topic of the president’s speech to the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, where he initially made news by ruling out using military force for a unilateral land grab — something the White House previously said was on the table.
“I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force,” Trump said.
In his well-attended address, Trump vented his frustration at Denmark’s resistance to forking over Greenland, calling the island a “piece of ice.”
“We want a piece of ice for world protection — and they won’t give it,” he said.
“So they have a choice. You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no, and we will remember.”
Trump noted that the US ruled Greenland during World War II after Denmark was overrun by Nazi Germany and that “after the war, we gave Greenland back to Denmark. How stupid were we to do that? But we did it. But how ungrateful are they now?”
“We’ve never asked for anything else and we could have kept that piece of land and we didn’t sell,” he went on.
Trump repeated his assertion that the US must own Greenland to prevent Chinese and Russian control, and noted its strategic location.
“If there is a war, much of the action will take place on that piece of ice, think of it. Those missiles will be flying right over the center of that piece of ice,” he said.
In his announcement on the framework, Trump said part of the deal would include discussions on the Golden Dome missile defense system.
The breakthrough came mere hours after the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee announced they would freeze work on the Trump-negotiated US-EU trade deal due to his threat of further tariffs.
That package, launched at Trump’s Scottish golf resort, would eliminate tariffs on all US industrial goods and expand access for American agricultural products.
Committee chair Bernd Lange in a statement said that “by threatening the territorial integrity and sovereignty of an EU member state and by using tariffs as a coercive instrument, the US is undermining the stability and predictability of EU-US trade relations.”
The effect of the framework deal on the trade pact was not immediately clear.
Before Trump announced the latest twist in the Greenland saga, Lange told reporters: “There’s always day by day surprises coming from the White House and on Truth Social, the new communication platform of the US government.”
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