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A promise to renegotiate the US-Denmark agreement governing US military bases in Greenland was at the center of discussions between Donald Trump and the NATO secretary general, leading the US president to scale back his threats on the Arctic island.
The change boosted global markets and helped ease some European fears that the crisis could rupture transatlantic ties.
NATO chief Mark Rutte and Trump discussed reopening the 1951 agreement to strengthen the US deployment on the vast Danish territory during their talks on Wednesday, four people briefed on the situation said.
The US President said on Thursday that Greenland could be part of his planned Golden Dome missile defense system for North America.
Rutte and Trump also discussed initiatives to increase U.S. investment in Greenland — which has one of the largest untapped reserves of minerals in the world — and curbing Chinese and Russian activity on the vast island, the people said.
Western officials cautioned that the Rutte-Trump deal was merely a preliminary agreement to continue talks to ease tensions between Washington and its European allies.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stressed on Thursday that Rutte was not negotiating on behalf of her country. But the NATO chief kept European allies informed ahead of the talks, speaking regularly with Friedrichsen and calling German Chancellor Friedrich Merz three times on Saturday alone.
Denmark is now hoping to negotiate a full deal with the US.
Frederiksen said she wanted “a constructive dialogue with allies” on improving Arctic security, including Trump’s Golden Dome plan, “provided that it is done with respect for our territorial integrity”.
Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told public broadcaster DR that it was “likely” that the outcome of the talks could include more US bases on Greenland, but “this is something we should discuss with the Americans”.
The US has reduced its military presence in Greenland from the height of the Cold War, when it had dozens of facilities and more than 10,000 troops, to just one base and about 150 troops today.
The Comprehensive Defense Agreement of 1951 allows the US to establish military bases in Greenland, as long as it does not impinge on Denmark’s sovereignty. Greenlandic and Danish officials said they have repeatedly proposed in recent years that the US could increase its military footprint.
Trump emerged from a meeting with Rutte on Wednesday night saying he would drop his threat to impose tariffs on eight European allies he claimed were trying to thwart his desired annexation of Greenland.
A senior EU diplomat said many US business leaders in Davos had expressed “disapproval” at Trump’s handling of the market turmoil, adding that “Rutte offered them the off-ramp and they took it”.
Trump on Thursday drew a contrast with long-term leases of the areas, saying: “It’s really being negotiated now, the details of it, but essentially it’s total access, there’s no end to it, there’s no time limit.”
“We are getting everything we want at no cost,” he said.
Rutte said the arrangement would allow NATO countries to make the Arctic more secure.
Frederiksen said Thursday morning that no decision had been made regarding Greenland’s sovereignty. Denmark can negotiate everything: “Political, security, investment, economy. But we cannot negotiate our sovereignty,” he said.
One of the people briefed on the Rutte-Trump talks said the status of British bases in Cyprus is a model that could be explored as a way to increase the US presence on the strategically important island – although Britain retains sovereignty over its bases in Cyprus.
“It remains to be seen what the final agreement on Greenland will look like,” a senior Western official said. “Neither for sale, nor for lease. Denmark is not willing to compromise. Very little has changed compared to where it all started.”
Danish officials are now expected to begin negotiations on a deal with the US side, led by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after agreeing to form a high-level working group last week.
EU leaders will hold an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday to discuss transatlantic relations. The dinner meeting was hastily called before Trump backed down on the tariff threat to discuss a countermeasures mechanism drawn up by the European Commission.
A senior EU official involved in summit preparations said the leaders were now unlikely to discuss measures to retaliate against Trump’s threats. “The situation has changed in the last 24 hours,” the official said.
Following Trump’s threats, Rutte — the Dutch head of the US-led military alliance who has emerged as one of Europe’s most effective negotiators with the Trump administration — sprang into action and spoke with Trump “very intensively since Saturday,” a European official briefed on the talks said.
“Rutte was at the heart of the conversation. He really made a very, very big breakthrough,” the official said.
