NATO chief’s Greenland deal with Trump blindsides European allies

DAVOS, Switzerland — A deal on Greenland that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte negotiated with President Donald Trump blindsided European officials who had striven to show unity in the face of escalating threats from the U.S., a European diplomat with knowledge of ongoing discussions told MS NOW. 

“Rutte negotiated this on his own,” the diplomat told MS NOW on Friday, referring to the agreement discussed by the NATO secretary general and President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“Everyone is grateful to Mark Rutte for pulling this off, but there are big question marks over what was agreed,” a second European diplomat told MS NOW. “Security and defense fall under Rutte’s remit … but issues of economics and sovereignty don’t.” The sources were granted anonymity to speak freely regarding sensitive relations.

Trump announced on Wednesday that he and Rutte had reached “the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland,” and that he would no longer impose the punitive tariffs he had threatened against European nations that opposed his Greenland takeover. Those were set to take effect on Feb. 1.

But days after the announcement, top European officials are still unclear about what Trump and Rutte agreed to.

A Danish official told MS NOW that Trump and Rutte agreed that Denmark and the U.S. “will begin talking.”

“It’s now a discussion between the two countries,” said the official, adding that Rutte or NATO allies will be brought in “when necessary.” 

“We are very well underway in terms of setting up a structure, a time frame, who is in them and when they’re going to meet — that channel is being decided,” the official continued. 

“The agreement we’ve made with the Americans is that we won’t be commenting on what’s going on in the room,” the official said.

In a statement, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told MS NOW, “If this deal goes through, and President Trump is very hopeful it will, the United States will be achieving all of its strategic goals with respect to Greenland, at very little cost, forever. President Trump is proving once again he’s the Dealmaker in Chief. As details are finalized by all parties involved, they will be released accordingly.” 

In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Trump said the possible deal involves U.S. access to mineral rights, as well as collaboration on his proposed “Golden Dome” defense system.

Rutte said he had not raised the issue of Danish sovereignty over Greenland in his discussions with Trump.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Thursday that Denmark could negotiate on almost any issue but that “we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty.” Greenland’s premier, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said he did not know what was in the proposed deal. 

Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe, told reporters that the alliance had no prior knowledge of the deal being struck. 

“We had no discussion about that security framework; we found out about it when everyone else did,” he said.  

While European Union officials were relieved to see Trump back away from his threats to impose 10% tariffs on countries that did not support his plans to control Greenland, one official expressed concern that Trump’s agreement with Rutte was ultimately “the best way to divide us,” particularly after EU countries stood united in opposing the president’s demands in Davos. 

Rutte and Trump have enjoyed a cordial working relationship — some have even called it a “bromance” — dating back to Trump’s first term, when Rutte was still serving as prime minister of the Netherlands.

Just two weeks after the 2024 election, Rutte, then recently named NATO secretary general, met President-elect Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort and sought to harness the respect and attention of the man who months earlier had said that he would “encourage [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want” if NATO countries didn’t spend more on their military defenses. 

Seven months after that Palm Beach meeting, Rutte would go on to publicly refer to Trump as “Daddy,” inviting criticism for his overt flattery — a moment that the president referred to frequently afterward, including in his speech at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday.

Some EU officials remain skeptical that the Greenland issue has been resolved.

The second European diplomat who spoke with MS NOW said that “the Danes are still stressed” about Trump’s threats to seize Greenland, noting that even though he seemed to back down, he frequently changes his mind. “Who can believe him?”

“He hasn’t given up on his ambitions to take Greenland,” the diplomat said. “His promises don’t mean anything.”

On his way back from Davos, Trump said that “we have to have the ability to do exactly what we want to do” on Greenland.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, addressed the climate of uncertainty at an emergency summit on Thursday in Brussels, saying that despite a commitment to continued cooperation with the U.S., transatlantic relations have “taken a big blow over the last week.”

“One day, one way; the other day, again, everything could change,” she said.