Davos (Switzerland) (AFP) – US President Donald Trump backed down Wednesday on threats to seize Greenland by force from ally Denmark, announcing a vague deal aimed at ensuring the 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. The NATO chief meanwhile told AFP that “there’s still a lot of work to be done”.
Trump said in a social media post that he would be scrapping tariffs of up to 25 percent threatened against Denmark and other European allies that have sent troops to Greenland in solidarity, including Britain, France, and Germany. 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.
Global markets that had been rattled by the rift and the threat of tariffs saw relief, with Wall Street’s key indices climbing. Trump’s threats had triggered one of the biggest transatlantic crises in decades, with warnings that he could single-handedly destroy NATO through aggression against a fellow member. His apparent turnaround brought guarded relief in Denmark, long a steadfast US ally, where Trump’s bellicose language has triggered shock and feelings of betrayal. “Trump said that he will pause the trade war, he says, ‘I will not attack Greenland’. These are positive messages,” Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told Danish public television DR.
Lokke had flown last week to Washington and met Vice President JD Vance, only to say afterward that the United States had not budged on seeking to control Greenland. But Aaja Chenmitz, one of two Greenlandic lawmakers in the Danish parliament, questioned why NATO would have a voice on the island’s mineral wealth. “NATO in no case has the right to negotiate on anything without us, Greenland. Nothing about us without us,” she posted. In Nuuk, where authorities started handing out brochures on how to live through a crisis, 65-year-old pensioner Lis Steenholdt said that Greenland and Denmark had been firm that the island is not for sale. “You have to believe the system. That’s the only option we have right now,” Steenholdt said.
Trump has repeatedly said that the United States, the key force in NATO, deserves Greenland as it would be forced to defend the island against Russia or China, although neither country holds any claim to the island. Addressing Davos for the first time in six years, Trump called Denmark “ungrateful” but appeared to take the threat of military action off the table. “I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland,” Trump said. Trump, 79, repeatedly referred to Greenland as Iceland in his speech. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney won a standing ovation at Davos on Tuesday when he warned of a “rupture” in the global order long championed by Washington. French President Emmanuel Macron for his part said Europe would not be bullied. Trump attacked both leaders, mocking Macron for wearing sunglasses at Davos, which the French president said was because of an eye condition.
© 2024 AFP
