By GEIR MOULSON and JAMES BROOKS, Related Press
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s prime minister insisted that her nation can’t negotiate on its sovereignty on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned he agreed a “framework of a future deal” on Arctic safety with the top of NATO.
Trump on Wednesday abruptly scrapped the tariffs he had threatened to impose on eight European nations to press for U.S. management over Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. It was a dramatic reversal hours after he insisted he wished to get the island “including right, title and ownership” — although he additionally mentioned he wouldn’t use power.
He mentioned “additional discussions” on Greenland have been being held regarding the Golden Dome missile protection program, a multilayered, $175 billion system that for the primary time will put U.S. weapons in house. Trump provided few particulars, saying they have been nonetheless being labored out.
NATO mentioned its secretary common, Mark Rutte, hadn’t proposed any compromise to Danish sovereignty.
Denmark insists on territorial integrity
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen mentioned safety within the Arctic is a matter for all of NATO, and it’s “good and natural” that or not it’s mentioned between the U.S. president and Rutte. She mentioned in a press release that she had spoken with Rutte “on an ongoing basis,” together with earlier than and after he met Trump in Davos.
She wrote that NATO is totally conscious of the dominion of Denmark’s place that something political may be negotiated on, together with safety, funding and financial points — “but we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty.”
“I have been informed that this has not been the case,” she mentioned, including that solely Denmark and Greenland could make selections on points regarding Denmark and Greenland.
An Aurora Borealis is seen within the sky above Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Picture/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Frederiksen mentioned that Denmark needs to proceed partaking in constructive dialogue with allies on find out how to strengthen safety within the Arctic, together with the U.S. Golden Dome program, “provided that this is done with respect for our territorial integrity.”
“He’s very much focused on what do we need to do to make sure that huge Arctic region, where change is taking place at the moment, where the Chinese and Russians are more and more active, how we can protect it,” he mentioned. “That was really the focus of our discussions.”
NATO spokesperson Allison Hart mentioned Thursday that Rutte “did not propose any compromise to sovereignty during his meeting with President Trump.” She mentioned that negotiations between Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. “will go forward aimed at ensuring that Russia and China never gain a foothold – economically or militarily – in Greenland.”
Welcome and skepticism for Trump’s change
On the streets of Copenhagen, some have been skeptical about Trump’s change.
President Donald Trump talks to media after a gathering about Greenland throughout the Annual Assembly of the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Picture/Markus Schreiber)
“I think the man has said many things and done a lot of different things to what he says,” mentioned Louise Pedersen, 22, who works with a startup firm. “I have a hard time believing it. I think it’s terrifying that we stand here in 2026.”
She mentioned it’s for Greenlanders to resolve what occurs with their land — “not Donald Trump.”
“I don’t really trust anything Mr. Trump is saying,” mentioned Poul Bjoern Strand, 70, an promoting employee.
On the potential of ceding territory, he mentioned: “That’s not what the Greenlanders want, that’s not what the Danish people want, and … I cannot believe that Danes are going to follow that.”
Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, one of many European nations that had confronted Trump’s menace of tariffs over Greenland, underlined the necessity for European NATO allies to do extra to safe the Arctic area and confused that it’s “a common trans-Atlantic interest.”
“We will protect Denmark, Greenland, the north from the threat posed by Russia,” he mentioned on the World Financial Discussion board assembly in Davos, Switzerland. “We will uphold the principles on which the trans-Atlantic partnership is founded, namely sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Moulson reported from Berlin. Lorne Prepare dinner in Brussels contributed to this report.
