President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he had secured total and permanent US access to Greenland in a deal with NATO. Details have remained scarce about any agreement on the matter — with the Prime Minister of Greenland admitting even he remained in the dark about the deal concerning his territory. Denmark has also reiterated earlier assertions that its sovereignty over the island was not up for discussion.
News of a framework deal came as Trump backed off tariff threats against Europe and ruled out taking Greenland by force — bringing a degree of respite in what was brewing to be the biggest rupture in transatlantic ties in decades. The U-turn also triggered a rebound in European markets and a return toward record highs for Wall Street’s main indexes.
‘We can do what we want’
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his return from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said a new deal was being negotiated that would be “much more generous to the United States, so much more generous.”
He skirted questions on sovereignty, but said: “We have to have the ability to do exactly what we want to do.”
Earlier Trump told Fox Business Network the deal would essentially bring “total access” for the United States.
“There’s no end, there’s no time limit.”
US missiles in Greenland?
According to a Bloomberg report, the “framework” cited by Trump entails the stationing of US missiles, mining rights aimed at keeping Chinese interests out and a bolstered NATO presence. The publication cited an European official briefed after talks with the talks.
According to the report, the framework agreement would pave the way for changes to the 1951 Treaty in order to guarantee US military base requirements. It would strengthen the NATO role in Arctic and High North security and include a multinational NATO command in Greenland under US command.
The tentative agreement also specified that an economic component would need to be negotiated — including mining rights. It also touched upon measures to stop Russian and Chinese economic activity and reiterated the call for military presence on Greenland.