Donald Trump’s announcement of a “framework of a future deal” that would settle the issue of Greenland after weeks of escalating threats has been met with profound scepticism from people in the Arctic territory, even as financial markets rebounded and European leaders welcomed a reprieve from further tariffs.
Just hours after the president used his speech at the World Economic Forum to insist he wanted Greenland, “including right, title and ownership,” but backed away from his more bellicose threats of military intervention – Trump took to social media to announce “the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland” and withdrew the threat of tariffs against eight European countries. He later called it “a concept of a deal” when he spoke to business network CNBC soon after Wall Street closed.
“The day ended better than it started,” said Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. “Now, let’s sit down and find out how we can address the American security concerns in the Arctic while respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he said.
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, also welcomed Trump’s decision, but Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, who negotiated Wednesday’s deal with Trump, issued a note of caution, saying there remained “a lot of work to be done”.
When asked by Fox News if Greenland would remain a part of the Kingdom of Denmark under the deal, Rutte said the issue had not come up, and offered few further details about the agreement. A Nato spokesperson later stated that Rutte did not propose any compromise on Greenland’s sovereignty during his talks with Trump.
Trump himself gave few further details on the agreement, but said talks were continuing concerning a US missile defence shield that would be in part based in Greenland.
But there was anger from some Danish MPs, including Sascha Faxe who was angered by Greenland’s exclusion from Wednesday’s negotiations.
“It’s not real negotiations; it’s two men who have had a conversation,” she told Sky News. “There can’t be a deal without having Greenland as part of the negotiations.”
According to media reports, the compromise deal could see the US granted sovereignty over small pockets of Greenland where military bases are located, with unnamed officials in the Telegraph comparing the proposal to the UK military’s bases in Cyprus, which are regarded as British territory.
The US already has extensive access to the territory, and under the terms of multiple agreements – some going back decades – has the option to widen that access by building bases and carrying out military activities.
The framework would also potentially allow the US to mine for rare earth minerals, without seeking permission from Denmark, according to the Telegraph.
It remains unclear whether Denmark has signed up to the deal, but on Wednesday night Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament, said that the idea that Nato should have anything to say about the territory’s sovereignty or minerals was “completely out of the question”.
After days of ratcheting tensions which signalled the deepest rupture in transatlantic relations in decades – and saw Canadian prime minister Mark Carney issue a stirring eulogy for the rules-based order on Tuesday – Trump’s reasons for apparently backing down remain unclear.
Sweden’s minister for foreign affairs, Maria Stenergard, said the work of Europe’s allies has “had an effect” and she reiterated that they would not be “blackmailed”.
The Dutch prime minister, Dick Schoof, called Trump’s decision to waive threatened tariffs against European allies a sign of “de-escalation”. Trump had threatened Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland with tariffs of 10% from 1 February over their opposition to the US takeover of Greenland.
Others pointed to wobbles on the financial markets, after Trump’s more hawkish comments on Greenland on Tuesday led to a sharp selloff on the US share markets. Global markets rebounded on Wednesday after Trump’s announced the framework deal and reneged his threat of tariffs.
“The market bounced when he said we wouldn’t use force,” said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide in Boston, while financial analyst Matthew Smart said “uncertainty just got priced out.”
Others noted that Trump has a history of making escalating threats, only to pull back when financial markets start falling. After he reined in his global trade war in April last year, following a rout in the markers, the Financial Times came up with the acronym “Taco” – “Trump Always Chickens Out” – to describe the phenomenon.
US publication Semafor reported that Trump appeared frustrated by the turn in the markets this week, and noted that his antagonism towards European allies came with huge risks.
“Countries like the UK, Belgium, and France hold trillions of dollars in US assets like treasuries. If they decide to sell those, it could send interest rates skyrocketing,” Semafor reported.
In Greenland however, Trump’s announcement was greeted with serious scepticism.
“He’s lying,” said one main in the capital Nuuk, who was interviewed by the AFP news agency.
That sentiment was shared by care worker Anak, who told AFP “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.”
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
