Davos, Switzerland, Jan 21, (dpa/GNA) – US President Donald Trump, said on Wednesday that he “won’t use force” to take control of Greenland, before later dropping his threat to impose new tariffs on European nations over the dispute.
He still wants “immediate negotiations” over a US acquisition of the the Danish Arctic island, but talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte appear to have further eased tensions. Trump hinted at a possible agreement over Greenland which might satisfy all parties.
His speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos was highly anticipated, and Trump pulled back from a position which had threatened 80 years of comparative harmony between Western allies.
“People thought I would use force, but I don’t have to use force,” the US president told the forum and many in the rest of the world watching the livestream from the Swiss resort.
“I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”
European leaders had been on edge after repeated Trump statements insisting the large island, thought to have mineral wealth, become part of the United States for national and global security reasons.
Previously, Trump had refused to say whether he would rule out sending the US military to fulfil his demand.
In Davos, he said he was “seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States.”
‘Formed the framework of a future deal’
He later posted on Truth Social following a meeting with Rutte and withdrew the tariff threats.
European NATO allies have voiced solidarity with Denmark and Greenland, even sending troops there, which had led Trump to say he would impose punitive tariffs from February 1 to pressure his opponents.
“Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,” Trump wrote.
“This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations. Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st.”
Ministers from Denmark, Greenland and the US along with US Vice President JD Vance already met in Washington on the issue, but those talks yielded little results. The Danes said a working group was being set up to find a way forward. US troops are already stationed in Greenland.
Trump, who spent most of his career in New York real estate, insisted again in his Davos speech that the US needs ownership of the large Arctic territory for the sake of setting up a missile defence system and international security.
“You can’t defend it on a lease,” Trump said.
Only the US “is in any position to be able to secure Greenland,” he told the audience.
“You can say yes and we will be very appreciative or you can say no and we will remember.”
Trump planned a number of meetings on Greenland during the high-profile gathering in the Swiss Alpine resort.
He also again took aim at the NATO Western military alliance in his speech.
“The problem with NATO is that we’ll be there for them 100%
but I’m not sure that they be there for us if we gave them the call, ‘gentlemen, we are being attacked, we’re under attack by such and such a nation’,” he said.
“I know them all very well, I’m not sure that they’d be there. I know we’d be there for them, I don’t know that they’d be there for us.
So with all of the money we expend, with all of the blood, sweat and tears, I don’t know that they’d be there for us.”
Hours later, he was lauding the NATO chief Rutte.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, reiterated that negotiations on the transfer of Greenland to the United States are out of the question for his country.
“We will not enter into negotiations based on abandoning fundamental principles,” Rasmussen told broadcaster DR after Trump’s speech. “We will never do that.
“It is positive in itself that he says he will not use military force, but it does not solve the problem.”
Trump also discussed other issues during his speech including domestic politics, the future of Venezuela, green energy and his belief that Europe is in decline, but all ears were on his Greenland comments after days of concern in European capitals.
GNA