
Alarm over Trump’s Greenland threat gives way to uncertainty around ‘future deal’
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President Trump has stepped back from the brink on Greenland. Now the question is what happens next.
After days of frenzied diplomacy, the U.S. president said on Wednesday that he had “formed a framework for a future deal" on Greenland and said he didn’t intend to use force to take control of the icebound island. But details were hazy, and European officials on Thursday seemed to be willing to talk about it only in vague terms.
The lack of clarity raises the prospect that the chaos of the past few days, which jarred markets and stress tested trans-Atlantic diplomacy, could return in the near future. Trump arrived in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday saying he wanted ownership of Greenland for national-security reasons, arguing that Denmark, which owns Greenland, wasn’t up to the job of defending the Arctic from Russian or Chinese aggression. He threatened 10% tariffs on European nations that stood in his way and, shortly after arriving at the World Economic Forum, made a speech demanding “immediate negotiations" to take control of the island.
Hours later, there was an abrupt reversal following what Trump said was a “very productive meeting" with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, after which the president dropped the threat of tariffs and sounded a more conciliatory note. Trump called the framework “really fantastic" but offered few details. Negotiations that will follow are expected to include a potential U.S.
Read on livemint.com