President Donald Trump had barely finished his speech Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos when speculation erupted over whether his administration was laying the groundwork for a potential Greenland deal—one that, if realized, would mark a dramatic escalation of U.S. involvement in the Arctic. Speaking with the CNN journalist Kaitlin Collins, who caught up with Trump as he traversed the hallways of Davos, the 47th president of the United States proudly announced he had reached a “framework” deal on Greenland on Wednesday, though he hesitated to provide concrete details.
“It’s a long-term deal,” Trump told Collins. “It’s the ultimate long-term deal. It’s infinite. There is no time limit. It’s a deal that’s forever.”
Though Trump had spent much of the lead-up to Davos beating his chest and sharing wild memes on Truth Social that suggested his administration would gain full ownership of Greenland, the president dodged questions about whether the U.S. would gain full ownership of the island.
“It’s a little bit complex but we’ll explain it down the line,” Trump told CNBC in the moments following the speech in which he told world leaders that the U.S. would settle for nothing less than complete ownership of the island.
A statement issued by the NATO spokesperson Allison Hart confirmed that Rutte had a “very productive meeting” with Trump during which the pair “discussed the critical significance of security in the Arctic region to all Allies, including the United States.”
Hart said that discussions regarding Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, will focus on ensuring Arctic security so that “Russia and China never gain a foothold—economically or militarily—in Greenland.”
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