Donald Trump\u2019s announcement of a \u201cframework of a future deal\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
Just hours after the president used his speech<\/a> at the World Economic Forum to insist he wanted Greenland, \u201cincluding right, title and ownership,\u201d but backed away from his more bellicose threats of military intervention \u2013 Trump took to social media<\/a> to announce \u201cthe framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland\u201d after talks with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, and withdrew the threat of tariffs<\/a> against eight European countries. He later called it \u201ca concept of a deal\u201d<\/a> when he spoke to business network CNBC soon after Wall Street closed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe day ended better than it started,\u201d said Danish foreign minister Lars L\u00f8kke Rasmussen. \u201cNow, let\u2019s 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<\/a>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Italy\u2019s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, also welcomed Trump\u2019s decision, but Rutte, who negotiated Wednesday\u2019s deal with Trump, issued a note of caution, saying there remained \u201ca lot of work to be done\u201d.<\/p>\n When asked by Fox News if Greenland<\/a> 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. Nato spokesperson Allison Hart said talks on the framework Trump was referring to would focus on ensuring Arctic security \u201cthrough the collective efforts of allies.\u201d<\/p>\n But there was anger from some Danish MPs, including Sascha Faxe who took umbrage with Greenland\u2019s exclusion from Wednesday\u2019s negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not real negotiations; it\u2019s two men who have had a conversation,\u201d she told Sky News. \u201cThere can\u2019t be a deal without having Greenland as part of the negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n 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<\/a> comparing the proposal to the UK military\u2019s bases in Cyprus, which are regarded as British territory.<\/p>\n The framework would also potentially allow the US to mine for rare earth minerals, without seeking permission from Denmark, according to the Telegraph.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s sovereignty or minerals was \u201ccompletely out of the question\u201d.<\/p>\n After days of ratcheting tensions which signalled the deepest rupture in transatlantic relations in decades \u2013 and saw Canadian prime minister Mark Carney issue a stirring eulogy for the rules-based order<\/a> on Tuesday \u2013 Trump\u2019s reasons for apparently backing down remain unclear.<\/p>\n Sweden\u2019s minister for foreign affairs, Maria Stenergard, said the work of Europe\u2019s allies has \u201chad an effect\u201d and she reiterated that they would not be \u201cblackmailed\u201d.<\/p>\n The Dutch prime minister, Dick Schoof, called Trump\u2019s decision to waive threatened tariffs against European allies a sign of \u201cde-escalation\u201d and EU leaders are now set to discuss their options at an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday.<\/p>\n Others pointed to wobbles on the financial markets, after Trump\u2019s more hawkish comments on Greenland on Tuesday led to a sharp selloff on the US share markets. Global markets rebounded on Wednesday after Trump\u2019s announced the framework deal and reneged his threat of tariffs.<\/p>\n \u201cThe market bounced when he said we wouldn\u2019t use force,\u201d said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide in Boston, while financial analyst Matthew Smart said \u201cuncertainty just got priced out.\u201d<\/p>\n 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<\/a> last year, following a rout in the markers, the Financial Times came up with the acronym \u201cTaco\u201d \u2013 \u201cTrump Always Chickens Out\u201d \u2013 to describe the phenomenon.<\/p>\n