Trump-Greenland latest: US President claims ‘framework of future deal’ agreed and backs down from tariff threat

US president Donald Trump has launched a fresh attack on Nato and Europe as he doubled down on his demands for Greenland – but backed down on using force.

In an extraordinary speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he said he wanted immediate talks to discuss acquiring the Danish territory, but vowed he would “not use force” to seize it.

The increasingly volatile president hit out at Nato, claiming the US has “never gotten anything” from being part of the alliance and arguing that a US takeover of Greenland is “a very small ask” compared with what his country has done for its fellow members.

Former vice president Al Gore has likened Donald Trump’s attempt to “take a wrecking ball” to Nato with his remarks over Greenland to the demolition of the White House’s East Wing, calling the president’s actions “insane.”

“Nato has been a tremendous foreign policy achievement for the United States as our effort to build up other alliances, to establish the rule of law, a rules based order, all of that has benefited the United States enormously,” Gore said, speaking to reporters at the World Economic Forum.

“And to try to take a wrecking ball to these alliances, the way he took a wrecking ball to the East Wing is literally insane.”

A petition calling for U.S. president Donald Trump to take his hands off Greenland has garnered over 72,800 signatures.”Donald Trump is threatening to take over Greenland—a country already struggling to gain independence,” the petition read.

It added: “The Trump administration does not care about the people of Greenland—it cares about location and mineral resources. The people of Greenland deserve to have true representation and freedom—not to be treated as political pawns, passed around from one colonial power grab to the next.

“Trump, who has been adamant about seizing the Danish territory, claimed yesterday that a deal was in sight to end a dispute over the Danish territory that risked the deepest rupture in transatlantic relations in decades.

Denmark’s foreign minister has said that the Greenland row should be handled through private diplomacy rather than on social media.

“What is crucial for us is that we get to end this with respect for the integrity and sovereignty of the kingdom (of Denmark) and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination,” Lars Lokke Rasmussen told public broadcaster DR.

U.S. president Donald Trump posted private messages from the leaders of Nato and France this week after his leaked correspondence over Greenland with the prime minister of Norway caused a major diplomatic stir in Europe.

Danish MP has said that the deal Donald Trump claims to have struck over Greenland is “definitely not a deal”.

Sascha Faxe told Fox News that the deal the U.S. president claims to have struck with Nato over Greenland is “not real”. “The thing is, there can’t be a deal without having Greenland as part of the negotiations, first of all,” Faxe said.

Trump yesterday abruptly stepped back from threats to impose tariffs as leverage to seize Greenland, ruled out the use of force and suggested a deal was in sight to end a dispute over the Danish territory.

Faxe referenced earlier comments from Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament, saying: “I have heard from the Greenlanders that I know – so we have a Greenlandic MP in Denmark – and she’s very clear that this is not a prerogative of Rutte and Nato; they can’t trade the underground in Greenland, or Greenlandic security without Greenlanders being part of it.”

“And they are very clear: Greenland is not for sale, they are not up for negotiations,” Faxe added.

“So it’s not real negotiations, it’s two men who have had a conversation,” she said. “It’s definitely not a deal.”

Donald Trump met with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte and claimed that Western Arctic allies could forge a new deal over Greenland that would satisfy his desire for a “Golden Dome” missile-defense system and access to critical minerals while blocking Russia and China’s ambitions in the Arctic.

However, Rutte later said the issue of whether Greenland will remain with Denmark did not come up in his talks with Trump.

“That issue did not come up anymore in my conversations tonight with the president,” Rutte told Fox News.

“He (Trump) is very much focused on what do we need to do to make sure that that huge Arctic region – where change is taking place at the moment, where the Chinese and the Russians are more and more active – how we can protect it.”

Denmark said the issue should be handled through private diplomacy rather than on social media.

“What is crucial for us is that we get to end this with respect for the integrity and sovereignty of the kingdom (of Denmark) and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination,” Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told public broadcaster DR.

Rasmussen said he had spoken with Rutte but declined to provide details on what had been agreed.

Greenland’s government did not reply to a request for comment.