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United States President Donald Trump announced connected Wednesday that helium had reached a “framework of a aboriginal deal” connected Greenland with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
He besides withdrew his menace to enforce 10 percent trade tariffs connected 8 European nations objecting to the merchantability of Greenland to the US – acceptable to emergence to 25 percent aboriginal successful the twelvemonth if nary woody was reached.
Greenland is simply a self-governing territory which is portion of the Kingdom of Denmark. Both Denmark and Greenland person repeatedly stated that the land is not for sale.
In a bid to defuse rising transatlantic tensions, Rutte met with Trump successful Davos, Switzerland, during the yearly acme of the World Economic Forum. During his code astatine Davos connected Wednesday, Trump reiterated that helium wants to get Greenland, but ruled out taking the Arctic land by force.
What has Trump said astir the ‘framework’ for a aboriginal deal?
In a Truth Social station connected Wednesday, Trump said that pursuing a “very productive” gathering with Rutte, helium had formed the “framework of a aboriginal woody with respect to Greenland and, successful fact, the full Arctic Region”.
Trump added that, nether this deal, helium would not enforce tariffs connected the 8 European countries that person opposed his effort to get Greenland.
He added that further discussions are being held astir “The Golden Dome arsenic it pertains to Greenland”.
The Golden Dome is Washington’s projected multilayered rocket defence programme, which is designed to antagonistic aerial threats. Trump announced the task successful May 2025. Under it, the US volition deploy rocket interceptors successful abstraction to shield against ballistic and hypersonic threats. The task is acceptable to beryllium completed by the extremity of Trump’s word successful 2029.
In his post, Trump said much accusation astir the model would beryllium made nationalist arsenic negotiations progress. These talks, helium said, would beryllium led by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff connected the US side.
“We person a conception of a deal,” Trump told CNBC aboriginal connected Wednesday.
But helium offered nary further details astir what these negotiations, specified arsenic dates oregon venues for upcoming talks — would involve, nor specifics connected who from Europe would join.
Why is the US astatine likelihood with Europe implicit Greenland?
On January 17, Trump announced that from February 1, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would beryllium charged a 10 percent tariff connected their exports to the US.
On June 1, the tariff was to beryllium accrued to 25 percent, helium said. “This Tariff volition beryllium owed and payable until specified clip arsenic a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total acquisition of Greenland,” Trump wrote connected Truth Social.
One time aft helium made this threat, the 27 members of the European Union convened for an exigency gathering to sermon their options. While galore wanted to effort to resoluteness the quality via diplomatic efforts, immoderate called for the implementation of a never-before-used “bazooka” package of retaliatory tariffs and commercialized restrictions. However, this could instrumentality up to a twelvemonth to afloat implement.
But pursuing his gathering with Rutte connected Wednesday, Trump withdrew his menace of tariffs and said a “framework for a aboriginal deal” had been reached.
Why does Trump privation Greenland?
Trump, and US presidents earlier him, person coveted Greenland for its strategic position.
The sparsely populated Arctic land of 56,000 radical – mostly Indigenous Inuit – is geographically successful North America but politically portion of Denmark, making it portion of Europe.
Greenland’s geographical presumption betwixt the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans provides the shortest aerial and oversea routes betwixt North America and Europe, making it important for US subject operations and early-warning systems, particularly astir the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap, according to the Trump administration.
Greenland besides has plentiful deposits of minerals, including ample amounts of untapped uncommon world metals, which are required for the accumulation of exertion ranging from smartphones to combatant jets. With planetary warming, much shipping routes astir Greenland are opening up arsenic the crystal melts, making it of greater involvement to galore nations.
Did the US ever ain Greenland?
During his code successful Davos connected Wednesday, Trump said: “After the war, we gave Greenland backmost to Denmark. How anserine were we to bash that? But we did it. But we gave it back.”
The US occupied Greenland successful 1941 pursuing Nazi Germany’s penetration of Denmark during World War II. It established a subject and vigor beingness connected the island, withdrawing pursuing the extremity of the war. However, US forces person maintained a imperishable beingness astatine Pituffik Space Base, antecedently known arsenic the Thule Air Base, successful Greenland’s northwest ever since.
Denmark and the US reached an statement successful 1951, which allows the US to support subject facilities successful Greenland arsenic portion of communal defence wrong the NATO framework.
Despite its beingness connected the land during World War II, the US ne'er really possessed the territory and its 1951 statement with Denmark did not walk sovereignty of Greenland to the US.
What bash we cognize astir the model of Trump’s aboriginal deal?
Specific details of the “framework” are unknown.
But Trump has described it arsenic a pathway towards a “long-term deal”.
And helium has specified immoderate elements of what helium expects from that deal. “It puts everybody successful a truly bully position, particularly arsenic it pertains to information and to minerals,” Trump told reporters.
“It’s a woody that’s forever.”
But experts accidental overmuch other astir the model is unclear.
“We inactive don’t cognize what ‘framework’ really means: is it governmental signalling, oregon does it incorporate factual commitments, timelines and ineligible hooks? We besides don’t cognize who the existent parties are [US-Denmark only, oregon US-Denmark-Greenland] and what Greenland has formally endorsed,” Christine Nissen, the main expert astatine the Copenhagen-based Think Tank Europa, told Al Jazeera.
It is unclear whether Greenland has agreed to the model of immoderate woody oregon whether Greenlandic oregon Danish authorities were adjacent consulted.
“There can’t beryllium a woody without having Greenland arsenic portion of the negotiations,” Sascha Faxe, a subordinate of the Danish parliament, told Sky News connected Wednesday.
“We person a Greenlandic MP successful Denmark and she’s precise wide that this is not a prerogative of Rutte and NATO,” Faxe said, referring to Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, who represents 1 of the 2 parliamentary seats for Greenland successful the Danish parliament.
She added: “They are precise wide – Greenland is not for sale, they are not for negotiations – truthful it’s not existent negotiations, it’s 2 men who person had a conversation.”
On Wednesday night, Larsen wrote successful Danish successful a Facebook post: “NATO successful nary mode has the close to negociate thing connected its ain astir america from Greenland portion bypassing us. Nothing astir us, without us.”
In an X station connected Wednesday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen wrote: “The time is ending connected a amended enactment than it began,” welcoming Trump’s ruling retired the European tariffs and taking Greenland by force. “Now, let’s beryllium down and find retired however we tin code the American information concerns successful the Arctic portion respecting the reddish lines of the [Kingdom of Denmark].”
It is besides not wide which different European leaders are connected committee with the deal. EU leaders are convening successful Brussels connected Thursday for exigency talks implicit the matter.
In an X station connected Wednesday, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed Trump’s determination to not complaint tariffs connected European countries. “As Italy has ever maintained, it is indispensable to proceed fostering dialog betwixt allied nations,” she wrote, without specifying details astir Greenland oregon the deal.
If Washington ends up owning parts of Greenland arsenic American overseas territory, it is not wide whether Denmark volition manus implicit the onshore oregon whether the onshore volition beryllium purchased astatine a price. It is besides not known what this hypothetical terms would look like.
What earthy resources does Greenland have?
Greenland is incredibly affluent successful minerals, including uncommon world minerals utilized successful the manufacture of batteries and high-tech industries important for defence. According to a 2023 survey, 25 of 34 minerals deemed “critical earthy materials” by the European Commission were recovered successful Greenland.
Greenland does not transportation retired the extraction of lipid and gas, and its mining assemblage is opposed by its Indigenous population. The island’s system is mostly reliant connected its sportfishing industry.
However, during his code astatine Davos, Trump said that it was nationalist security, and not minerals, that made it imperative for him to ain Greenland.
“To get to this uncommon earth, you got to spell done hundreds of feet of ice. That’s not the crushed we request it. We request it for strategical nationalist information and planetary security,” Trump said.
Referring to Trump during an interrogation with Fox News’s Special Report with Bret Baier connected Wednesday, Rutte said: “He is precise overmuch focused connected what bash we request to bash to marque definite that that immense Arctic portion – wherever alteration is taking spot astatine the moment, wherever the Chinese and the Russians are much and much progressive – however we tin support it.”
Amid planetary warming, the immense untapped resources of the Arctic are becoming much accessible. Countries similar the US, Canada, China and Russia are present eyeing these resources.
Russia and China person been working together to make Arctic shipping routes arsenic Moscow seeks to present much lipid and state to China amid Western sanctions, while Beijing seeks an alternate shipping route to trim its dependence connected the Strait of Malacca.
“Negotiations betwixt Denmark, Greenland and the United States volition spell guardant aimed astatine ensuring that Russia and China ne'er summation a foothold – economically oregon militarily – successful Greenland,” Reuters quality bureau reported, citing an unnamed NATO source.
On Wednesday, Russian quality agencies quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin arsenic saying: “What happens successful Greenland is of perfectly nary effect to us.”
What astir the ownership of Greenland?
On Wednesday, Rutte said during the interrogation that the contented of whether Greenland volition stay Danish territory did not travel up during his treatment with Trump.
When Rutte was asked whether Greenland would stay nether the Kingdom of Denmark, helium responded: “That contented did not travel up immoderate much successful my conversations contiguous with the president.”
Trump has antecedently said that Washington needs to ain Greenland, alternatively than lease it.
“You support ownership. You don’t support leases. And we’ll person to support Greenland. If we don’t bash it, China oregon Russia will,” Trump told reporters astatine the White House connected January 9.
During his code astatine Davos, Trump reiterated that helium wants Washington to ain Greenland, contempt the US subject beingness determination nether the 1951 agreement.
Nissen, of Think Tank Europa, explained that this statement already grants the US precise extended operational rights successful Greenland pertaining to construction, question and logistics. But, she added, the statement is not territorial, and sovereignty sits with Denmark and Greenland’s self-government.
“The US cannot workout civilian authority, alteration laws, power borders arsenic a state, oregon transportation the territory. So Denmark and Greenland’s hard reddish enactment is straightforward: nary ‘ownership’ and nary territorial transportation done a deal.”
On Wednesday, The New York Times, however, cited 3 unnamed elder officials progressive successful the latest Greenland talks, reporting connected the anticipation that the model could impact conversations implicit giving Washington sovereign power implicit tiny pockets of Greenland for subject bases.
In theory, these pockets would beryllium akin to the conception of the UK’s bases successful Cyprus, which are regarded arsenic British territory, 1 of the officials told The Times, portion different confirmed this.
The UK has 2 Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) wrong Cyprus, namely Akrotiri and Dhekelia. These are legally British-owned territories wrong Cyprus.
SBAs are purely for subject usage and governed astir wholly arsenic subject installations, wherever authorization is fundamentally subject and centralised.
“There are rumours that Trump whitethorn inactive ideate immoderate signifier of US ownership of a precise tiny portion of land, but Rutte has indicated that this was not substantively connected the table,” Nissen said.
“If immoderate constituent of the woody were to impact adjacent a symbolic transportation of territory, that would transverse a reddish enactment for Denmark, Greenland and Europe, and would acceptable a unsafe precedent for sovereignty and the Western order.”
Nissen explained that adjacent if determination is simply a framework, Denmark and Greenland person ineligible options to constrain US ambitions for the island.
They could importune that US power is constricted to “rights of use” to territory alternatively than thing resembling sovereign power oregon exclusive jurisdiction. Essentially, she argued, they could usage bureaucracy to bolster their positions.
“They tin usage governance tools that substance successful practice: consultation clauses, associated oversight bodies, transparency requirements, wide reappraisal points and meaningful termination options – positive home instrumentality and permitting [land use, environment, infrastructure approvals] that tin signifier oregon dilatory what ambitions go connected the ground.”
She explained that a apt result could impact strengthened US entree to Greenland and an update to the 1951 defence woody — with much NATO branding, other infrastructure and investment, and limited, targeted practice connected minerals.
What are immoderate overseas territories?
Greenland is really 1 of 2 Danish self-governing overseas territories, the different 1 being the Faroe Islands.
The Arctic land was a Danish colony successful the aboriginal 18th century, aft an expedition led by Danish-Norwegian missionary Hans Egede arrived successful 1721. In 1979, it became a self-governing territory. Since 2009, Greenland has the close to state independency done a referendum.
The UK has 14 overseas territories crossed the Atlantic, Caribbean, Pacific and polar regions.
The inhabited ones, including Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and Montserrat, are mostly self‑governing, with the UK liable for defence and overseas affairs.
The US has 5 permanently inhabited territories — Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands — each with section governments but constricted national representation, and Puerto Rico is the largest arsenic a self‑governing commonwealth.
Washington besides controls 9 mostly uninhabited islands utilized chiefly for subject oregon strategical purposes.
France has 13 overseas territories dispersed crossed the Atlantic, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Pacific and South America. China has 2 Special Administrative Regions (SARs), Hong Kong and Macau, which are mostly autonomous successful presumption of political, economical and ineligible systems.
Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand and Portugal besides person overseas territories successful antithetic parts of the satellite with antithetic arrangements for self-government.
English (US) ·