Agreement with Nato will give US full and permanent access to Greenland, says Trump

Donald Trump has said an agreement with Nato on Greenland will give the US full and permanent access to the island, as the defence alliance’s secretary general said its members would have to step up their presence in the Arctic.

A day after backing away from his threat to use tariffs as leverage to seize Greenland, a largely self-governing part of Denmark, and ruling out the use of force, Trump said on Thursday that the framework deal would mean “total access” with “no end, no time limit”.

The US president had on Wednesday hailed “the ultimate long-term deal” that he said would settle the transatlantic dispute over Greenland following weeks of escalating tensions that risked the biggest breakdown in transatlantic relations in decades.

But the precise terms of the agreement apparently struck between Trump and Mark Rutte, the secretary general of Nato, remained unclear and the Danish government said there was no question of it compromising Denmark’s or Greenland’s sovereignty.

“We can negotiate all political aspects – security, investment, the economy – but we cannot negotiate our sovereignty,” said Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen. The Danish defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, said Rutte “cannot negotiate” on Denmark’s or Greenland’s behalf.

Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, said matters of security, investment and economy were up for discussion. Photograph: Thomas Traasdahl/Reuters

However, Poulsen said, Rutte was working “loyally to maintain unity within Nato” and it was “very positive” that the alliance wanted to do more to strengthen Arctic security. “We are in a much better place today than we were yesterday,” he said.

Greenland’s deputy prime minister, Múte Egede, said that whatever pressure other countries may exert, “our country will neither be given away, nor will our future be gambled with”, adding: “It is unacceptable to attempt to hand our land to others.”

Trump’s repeated and aggressive assertions that the US needed “complete control” of Greenland have threatened to reignite a trade war with Europe and also risked unravelling the Nato alliance that has guaranteed western security for decades.

At the weekend, he threatened to impose a 10% tariff on imports from Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland unless they dropped their objections to his plans, prompting EU leaders to consider retaliation.

After meeting with Trump in Davos, Rutte told Reuters on Thursday that Nato would “come together with our senior commanders to work out what is necessary”, adding: “I have no doubt we can do this quite fast. Certainly I would hope for 2026, I hope even early in 2026.”

The Nato secretary general earlier told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that he had had a “very good discussion” with Trump on how the transatlantic defence alliance’s members could bolster Arctic security.

“One workstream coming out of yesterday … is to make sure when it comes to Greenland, particularly, that we ensure that the Chinese and the Russians will not gain access to the Greenland economy [or] militarily to Greenland,” he said.

Nato’s top military commander in Europe, Gen Alexus Grynkewich of the US, said the alliance had not yet received political guidance but was “doing some thinking about how we would organise for it. No planning has started, but we’re ready.”

EU leaders are due to gather in Brussels later on Thursday for an emergency meeting to discuss how to handle the unpredictable US president amid a strong sense that transatlantic ties have been badly damaged by his Greenland grab.

Shaken EU governments remain wary of another abrupt change of mind from Trump, who many in national capitals and in Brussels consider to be a power-monger to whom the bloc will sooner or later have to stand up.

Trump has repeatedly said the US needs to take control of Greenland for “national security”, despite the US already having a military base on the island and a bilateral agreement with Denmark allowing it to significantly expand its presence there.

Media reports suggested Wednesday’s putative deal could revolve around a renegotiation of that 1951 defence pact, which was updated in 2004 to take account of Greenlandic home rule. The US has one base on Greenland, the Pituffik space base.

Frederiksen said Denmark wished to “continue a constructive dialogue with its allies on ways to strengthen security in the Arctic, including the US Golden Dome [missile-defence system], provided this is done with respect for our territorial integrity”.

People protest in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, on Thursday. Photograph: Marko Đurica/Reuters

European officials cautiously welcomed the news. Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, claimed a victory of sorts, saying Rome had “always maintained it is essential to continue fostering dialogue” between allies.

The Dutch prime minister, Dick Schoof, said it was “positive we are now on the path to de-escalation”, but added that the US, Canada and Europe must “continue to work together within Nato to strengthen security in the Arctic region”.

The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, welcomed Trump’s shift in rhetoric. “Despite all the frustration and anger of recent months, let us not be too quick to write off the transatlantic partnership,” he said in a speech at Davos.

“We Europeans, we Germans, know how precious the trust is on which Nato rests. In an age of great powers, the United States, too, will depend on this trust. It is their – and our – decisive competitive advantage,” Merz added.

France’s finance minister, Roland Lescure, said the announcement was “a first positive sign that things are moving in the right direction. The magic word for the last 48 hours has been de-escalation. Right now, we’re de-escalating.”

Sweden’s foreign affairs minister, Maria Stenergard, suggested resistance from Denmark’s allies had “had an effect”. European leaders had lined up to criticise what the French president, Emmanuel Macron, called Trump’s “new colonialism”.

The bloc also floated retaliatory economic action, including tariffs on €93bn (£80bn) of US imports and the bloc’s “big bazooka” – its “anti-coercion instrument” – which would limit US access to European markets including investment and digital services.

Teresa Ribera, a European Commission executive vice-president, said the EU needed to speak up against Trump. “Silence is too ambiguous, too dangerous,” she said in an interview with La Vanguardia. “If Europe remains silent in the face of Trump, it fuels fear.”

A European diplomat agreed that a strong EU reaction had influenced Trump. “EU firmness and unity have contributed to get him to change his position,” they said. “Obviously also internal political pressure in the US, and market reaction.”

However, Germany’s vice-chancellor, Lars Klingbeil, said Europe “should wait and see what substantive agreements are reached. No matter what solution is now found, everyone must understand that we cannot sit back, relax and be satisfied.”

Trump’s push for Greenland, first floated in 2019, had intensified dramatically over recent weeks, with the president saying the US would take control of the vast Arctic island “one way or the other”, and: “Now it is time, and it will be done!!!”