Trump’s claim of forthcoming deal with Nato over Greenland is ‘not real’, Danish lawmakers say – live

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After Donald Tump’s announcement that a “framework of a future deal” on Greenland had been reached with Nato chief Mark Rutte, the US president said he assumed that Denmark had weighed in on the matter.

Speaking to business network CNBC and asked if it was a deal of ownership, Trump replied: “Well it’s a little bit complex but we’ll explain it down the line – but the secretary general of Nato and I and some other people were talking and it’s the kind of deal that I wanted to be able to make.”

Asked if Denmark had weighed in on what it wanted or would agree to, Trump said: “I assume they did because he [Rutte] very much represents – he’s a strong leader … and I assume he’s been speaking to them. He’s been speaking to all of them.”

Asked if the agreement involved mineral rights or ownership, Trump said: “I don’t want to say yet.”

But said he thought the deal would be a “very good deal” for the US and Nato.

We’re going to work together on something having to do with the Arctic as a whole but also Greenland and it has to do with security, great security, strong security, and other things.

Donald Trump’s announcement of a “framework of a future deal” that would settle the issue of Greenland after weeks of escalating threats has been met with profound scepticism from people in the Arctic territory, even as financial markets rebounded and European leaders welcomed a reprieve from further tariffs.

As Jonathan Yerushalmy has just reported, only hours after the US president used his speech at the World Economic Forum to insist he wanted “ownership” of Greenland but backed away from threats of military intervention, Trump took to social media to announce “the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland” after talks with Nato chief Mark Rutte, and withdrew the threat of tariffs against eight European countries.

“The day ended better than it started,” said Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, while Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni also welcomed Trump’s decision.

But Rutte issued a note of caution, saying there remained “a lot of work to be done”.

When asked by Fox News if Greenland would remain a part of the Kingdom of Denmark under the deal, Rutte said the issue had not come up. A Nato spokesperson said talks on the framework Trump was referring to would focus on ensuring Arctic security “through the collective efforts of allies”.

But there was anger from some Danish MPs including Sascha Faxe, who took umbrage with Greenland’s exclusion from Wednesday’s negotiations, saying: “It’s not real negotiations; it’s two men who have had a conversation.”

You can see the full report here:

Russia, which is still attacking Ukraine, could accept Trump's invitation to join his 'Board of Peace'

Having spent Wednesday evening in Davos claiming to have struck a deal over Greenland at a meeting in which the subject of Greenland’s sovereignty was not discussed, Donald Trump will spend Thursday morning in the Swiss ski town announcing a charter for his “board of peace”.

The exact nature of the organization, which was originally understood to be a temporary working group to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, is now in doubt, after leaked drafts of its charter appeared to position it as a rival to the United Nations, with a $1bn admission fee for members states, to be led by Trump possibly even after his term as US president expires in 2029.

Asked on Tuesday if his Board of Peace might replace the UN, Trump said, “it might”.

Exactly who will be at the event is unclear. Bloomberg reports that the UK, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and Canada do not plan to take part in the ceremony on Thursday.

Hungary and Morocco have accepted invitations to join the organization, their foreign ministries said.

While Trump told reporters on Wednesday that Russia had accepted his invitation to join his global peace-making organization, even as it continues to attack Ukraine, Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that his government was still studying the proposal. Should he decide to accept, however, Putin said that Russia would be willing to pay the $1bn to a fund overseen by Trump out of Russian funds frozen in Europe over the Ukraine invasion.

Greenland's prime minister to hold press conference on Thursday

As speculation continues over what, if anything, was actually agreed in Davos on Wednesday, when Donald Trump claimed to have emerged from a meeting on the future of Greenland with the Nato secretary-general with “a concept of a deal”, Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, has scheduled a press conference for Thursday at 2pm local time in Nuuk.

Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but has its own parliament and government and Nielsen, who was elected to lead Greenland last year, leads a party that favors a gradual path to independence from Denmark.

At a news conference with Denmark’s prime minister last week, Nielsen was very clear that the territory has no interest in Trump’s desire to “acquire” it.

“One thing must be clear to everyone: Greenland does not want to be owned by the US; Greenland does not want to be governed by the US; Greenland does not want to be part of the US,” he said. “We choose the Greenland we know today, which is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark.”

On Tuesday, Nielsen warned Greenlanders that a US military attack was unlikely but possible.

Thursday’s press conference will be held in the Naalakkersuisut press briefing room, which seats 45 people.

Danish MP says deal Trump claims to have struck over Greenland is 'definitely not a deal'

In an interview with Sky News on Wednesday, a member of Denmark’s parliament, Sascha Faxe, has suggested that the deal Donald Trump claims to have struck with Nato over Greenland is “not real”.

“The thing is, there can’t be a deal without having Greenland as part of the negotiations, first of all,” Faxe said.

She went on to reference earlier comments from Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament, saying: “I have heard from the Greenlanders that I know - so we have a Greenlandic MP in Denmark – and she’s very clear that this is not a prerogative of Rutte and Nato; they can’t trade the underground in Greenland, or Greenlandic security without Greenlanders being part of it.”

“And they are very clear: Greenland is not for sale, they are not up for negotiations,” Faxe added. “So it’s not real negotiations, it’s two men who have had a conversation,” she said.

“It’s definitely not a deal.”

Greenlandic lawmaker says Nato has no mandate to negotiate nation's status or mineral rights

Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament, wrote on Facebook Wednesday night that, despite Donald Trump’s claim to have struck an agreement over her homeland with Nato, the military alliance has no mandate to negotiate anything about Greenland. “Nothing about us, without us,” she wrote.

Amid rumors that some sort of mineral deal might have been discussed by Trump and Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary-general, in Davos, Chemnitz Larsen called the idea that Nato should have anything to say about Greenland’s sovereignty or minerals “completely out of the question.”

Chemnitz Larsen, who met last week in Copenhagen with a bipartisan delegation of US senators, led by Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, and Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, also called Trump’s recent statements about Greenland “absolutely crazy.”

Following the meeting with the visiting US lawmakers, the Danish newspaper Politiken reported that the Americans had privately “expressed how terrible they felt” about Trump’s threats.

Nato leader tells Fox issue of Greenland's sovereignty 'did not come up' in conversation with Trump

Despite Donald Trump’s claim that he struck ‘a deal’ with Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary-general, on Wednesday, to resolve his demand for Greenland to become part of the United States, Rutte just told Fox News that they did not even discuss the issue of Greenland’s sovereignty.

Amid widespread speculation that Trump had simply backed down from his threats to seize the territory by force in reaction to panic in the stock and bond markets, Rutte was asked if the “framework deal” meant that Greenland would still be part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

“That issue did not come up,” Rutte said, “in my conversation tonight with the president. We very much focused on what do we need to do to make sure that that huge Arctic region, where change is taking place at the moment, where the Chinese and Russians are more and more active, how we can protect it. That was really the focus of our discussions.”

White House accuses reporter of lying for accurately reporting that Trump called Greenland 'Iceland'

During his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, Donald Trump mistakenly referred to Greenland, the Arctic island he has threatened to seize, as “Iceland” four times.

Perhaps because it was exactly the kind of verbal slip that Trump, who turns 80 in June, would have seized on as evidence of dementia had it been made by Joe Biden in the recent past, his aides appeared to be incapable of admitting that it happened.

Even as video of the flubs circulated widely online, and can be viewed on the White House YouTube channel, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, accused a correspondent for NewsNation, Libbey Dean, of lying when she accurately reported on social media that “Trump appeared to mix up Greenland and Iceland” in his remarks.

“No he didn’t, Libby. His written remarks referred to Greenland as a ‘piece of ice’ because that’s what it is,” Leavitt posted in response from her official account. “You’re the only one mixing anything up here.”

By pointing not to what Trump said, but instead to the text he obviously misread, Leavitt appeared to be trying to tamp down the idea that he was mixed up.

Unfortunately for her, Trump made exactly the same mix-up just one day earlier, when he told reporters at the White House: “It’s because of tariffs and the proper use of tariffs … we’re also the most secure. As an example, Iceland, without tariffs, they wouldn’t even be talking to us about it.”

Al Gore suggests stock market drop pushed Trump to back down from threat to seize Greenland

Al Gore, who is two years younger than Donald Trump and a good deal more coherent even 26 years after he was denied the presidency by the US supreme court, told CNN at Davos that it was likely the sharp drop in stocks that had scared Trump into backing down from his threats to use force to seize Greenland.

“I think perhaps because of the stock market’s reaction yesterday, he appeared to back down from his previous threat to use military force to acquire Greenland,” the former US vice-president said. “If I’m interpreting that correctly, I think that’s a good thing; It was of course crazy that he would do such a thing in the first place. But I think he backed down and that’s good.”

“I can only speculate, I don’t know what’s inside his mind,” Gore added, chuckling. “It would be quite something if I could see inside his mind.”

“But many people have speculated that the bond market and the stock market really have a lot of influence on him. And when it goes down almost 900 points, and people do interpret it as a Sell America trade, that may well have been the reason he backed down,” Gore said.

Robert Kelly, a political scientist in South Korea, expressed much the same sentiment in a social media comment on Trump’s retreat.

“Guessing that yesterday’s sharp market drop is responsible for the Greenland climb-down,” Kelly wrote. “The only genuine economic success Trump has is the market’s continuing strength”.

“I’m genuinely surprised his misgovernance hasn’t actually fed thru into market stagnation,” Kelly added. “But whatever. Politically he needs equities to stay up”.

Denmark's foreign minister welcomes news that Trump has 'paused the trade war' over Greenland

“The day is ending on a better note than it began,” Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Denmark’s foreign minister, said a statement.

“We welcome that [the president of the United States] has ruled out to take Greenland by force and paused the trade war,” Rasmussen added. “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].

“What is crucial for us is that we get to end this with respect for the integrity and sovereignty of the Kingdom [of Denmark] and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination,” Rasmussen told Denmark’s public broadcaster DR.

Rasmussen also said he had spoken with Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general Trump met with, but declined to provide details on what, if anything, had been agreed.

Unnamed sources told the New York Times that military officers from Nato member states have discussed a compromise in which Denmark would grant the US sovereignty over small pockets of Greenlandic land to build military bases.

The US already has at least 750 military bases in about 80 foreign countries, including a space force base in Greenland, over which it arguably exerts de facto sovereignty, in addition to foreign embassies that are considered sovereign territory.

Republican lawmakers praise Trump while Democrats mock him for cutting a Greenland 'deal' that changes nothing

While Republican lawmakers queued up to praise Donald Trump for apparently agreeing to not invade Greenland, Democrats noted that the president appears to have defused a crisis of his own making by agreeing to settle for a role in securing the Arctic island the US has already had for decades through Nato.

John Cornyn, a Republican senator from Texas hoping to hold on to his seat, praised the president as “the dealmaker-in-chief” in a social media post.

“The Art of the Deal is working in America’s best interest,” Cornyn said, in reference to a book that was ghostwritten for Trump, with little to no apparent input from the former real estate developer, that helped construct his public image as a successful negotiator.

Brendan Boyle, a Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, had a somewhat different take on Trump’s claim that “we have a concept of a deal.”

“Congrats to Donald Trump on ‘achieving’ the status quo,” Boyle posted. “He’s an amazing dealmaker.”

Nato statement says Trump and Rutte discussed 'collective security' in Arctic, with no mention of US acquiring Greenland

There are signs of a diplomatic effort to frame Donald Trump’s apparent retreat from his demand for the US to own Greenland as a win-win for everybody, likely to avoid angering the volatile US president.

That can be seen in the wording of a statement from a Nato spokesperson, Allison Hart, to the US broadcaster MS NOW, which was framed as a comment “following President Trump’s announcement of a ‘concept of a deal’ related to Greenland”.

The Nato statement, however, did not confirm that any deal or concept of a deal had been agreed on. Instead, the statement said that Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, had “a very productive meeting” with Trump “during which they discussed the critical significance of security in the Arctic region to all Allies, including the United States”.

Those discussion, the statement added, focused on the “collective security” of the Nato allies. “Negotiations between Denmark, Greenland and the United States will go forward aimed at ensuring that Russia and China never gain a foothold – economically or militarily – in Greenland.”

Trump says 'deal' over Greenland is 'really fantastic for the USA'

Video posted online by the Danish state broadcaster DR shows more of what Donald Trump told reporters about the “deal” over Greenland he says he made with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, who has no say over the sovereignty of the Danish territory. His vague remarks suggested that the proposed agreement might be closer to the “concepts of a plan” for a comprehensive US healthcare policy he promised in the 2024 campaign than a settled deal.

“It’s a deal that people jumped at, uh, really fantastic for the USA; gets everything we wanted, including especially real national security, and international security,” Trump said.

Asked “how so?”, the US president said: “Well, the deal is going to be put out pretty soon, and we will see. It’s right now a little bit in progress, but pretty far along. It gets us everything that we needed to get.”

Giving a sense of the confusion at the heart of the situation, Trump went on to say that Rutte “was representing the other side, which is really us too, because we’re you know a very important member of Nato … and it’s really nice, I mean it’s a deal that everybody’s very happy with.”

Pressed to say if the agreement gave the US ownership of Greenland, as he has demanded, Trump paused for a while before saying: “Um … it’s a long-term deal. It’’s the ultimate long-term deal.”

'It's the ultimate long-term deal,' Trump says of Nato 'framework' on Greenland

In response to a question from CNN at Davos today, the president said that his newly announced “framework of a future deal” on Greenland is “the ultimate long term deal”.

“I think it puts everyone in a really good position,” Trump said. “Especially as it pertains to security and minerals and everything else.”

When asked how long the deal is expected to last, the president said: “Infinite.”

Sweden’s foreign minister, Maria Stenergard, said today that it was “good” that Donald Trump backed away from tariffs against Nato members “who have supported Denmark and Greenland”.

“The demands for relocated borders have received well-deserved harsh criticism,” she said in a statement. “That is also why we have repeatedly stated that we will not let ourselves be blackmailed. It seems that our work together with allies has had an effect.”

Trump says Greenland deal involves 'Golden Dome' and 'mineral rights' for US

The president hasn’t released any information about the “framework” of a future deal on Greenland that he announced on social media. However, in an interview with CNBC, he said that a deal would include Nato’s involvement on his sought-after missile defense system known as the “Golden Dome”, and well as “mineral rights” for the US.

When interviewer Joe Kernen asked how long the deal would last, Trump replied: “For ever.” But he reiterated that he doesn’t intend to use force to achieve his goal.