Washington, DC [US], February 1 (ANI): US President Donald Trump on Saturday said negotiations over Greenland have begun and are close to an agreement, describing the talks as critical to US national security.
Responding to a reporter’s question aboard Air Force One about updates on Greenland negotiations and contacts with European leaders, Trump said the process was already moving forward.
“We have started a negotiation, and I think it’s pretty well agreed to. I mean, they want us to do it,” Trump said. “I think it’s going to be a good deal for everybody, a very important deal actually, from a national security point of view, very, very important. I think we’re going to make a deal there.”
Trump did not specify whether he had recently spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, or other European leaders.
According to Politico, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said earlier this week that initial talks among Denmark, the United States, and Greenland over the Arctic island’s future had “gone well,” although the dispute remains unresolved.
Politico reported that Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt met US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on January 14. During the meeting, the sides agreed to establish a working group to discuss Greenland and Arctic security amid Trump’s demands to take over the self-governing Danish territory.
“After that there was a huge derailment,” Rasmussen was quoted as saying by Politico, referring to Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on several European countries unless they agreed to hand over Greenland. Trump later walked back the threat after saying he had reached a framework toward a deal with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the details of which have not been made public.
“Things escalated, but now we are back on track,” Rasmussen told reporters at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. He added that the first meeting of the working group went well and took place in a constructive atmosphere.
Rasmussen cautioned that the dispute has not yet been resolved and said further talks are planned, although he added that he was “a little more optimistic” than he had been a week earlier, Politico reported.
Trump’s earlier threats to seize Greenland had unsettled European capitals and strained transatlantic relations, prompting calls within the European Union for greater unity and independence on security matters. France and Germany had urged the EU to consider deploying its Anti-Coercion Instrument before Trump backed away from launching a trade war.
Rasmussen credited Trump’s decision to step back from tariffs to a strong display of European solidarity over Greenland. “It has become clear that the price for going down that path has been too high,” he said.
On January 21, during the third day of the 2026 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Trump clarified the US position on Greenland’s sovereignty, saying the United States would not use military force to acquire the territory.
He also reversed the proposed 10 percent tariffs on European allies, which had been aimed at pressuring Denmark over Greenland’s status, saying he had reached a framework of a deal on mineral and security rights with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
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