US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had reached a framework for a deal over Greenland, which he had threatened to conquer from Denmark, and scrapped his threat of tariffs on European allies.Trump, speaking after he met NATO chief Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, said little about the purported framework or whether it met his demands of total US control over the Arctic island.
"We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
"Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st," Trump wrote.
The tariffs were set to hit Denmark as well as close US allies including Britain, France and Germany which had sent troops to Greenland in the wake of Trump's threats.
Speaking later to reporters in the hallways of the conference in the Swiss resort of Davos, Trump said that the deal would be in effect "forever."
Asked if the United States would gain sovereignty over the vast but sparsely populated island, Trump hesitated and said, "It's the ultimate long-term deal, and I think it puts everybody in a really good position, especially as it pertains to security, and minerals and everything else."
"It's a deal that people jumped at, really fantastic for the USA, gets everything we wanted," he told reporters.
Speaking separately to CNBC, Trump called it a "concept of a deal."
"It's a little bit complex, but we'll explain it down the line, but the secretary general of NATO and I and some other people were talking and it's the kind of a deal that I wanted to be able to make."
Trump's quest to take Greenland from NATO ally Denmark has deeply shaken the global order and markets.
In a speech earlier Wednesday at the World Economic Forum, Trump for the first time ruled out using force, but demanded "immediate negotiations" to acquire the island from Denmark.
"We probably won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable -- but I won't do that," Trump said in his speech.
"I don't have to use force. I don't want to use force. I won't use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland."
