After weeks of rhetoric that risked the deepest rupture in transatlantic relations in decades, US President Donald Trump abruptly stepped back from threats to impose tariffs as leverage to seize Greenland, and said a deal was in sight to end the dispute.
“We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform yesterday.
“Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st.”
Trump made the comments after ruling out taking the Danish territory by force in a speech at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, meeting with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte and acknowledging financial markets’ discomfort with his threats.
Trump said he had tasked Vice President J D Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff to take part in the discussions and would make more information available ‘as discussions progress’.
“People thought I would use force, but I don’t have to use force,” Trump said earlier in his speech at the Swiss Alpine resort.
“I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force,” he added.
The change in posture on tariffs sparked a stock market rally, with the S&P 500 index up over 1.5 per cent. That added to the market’s recovery after the sharpest equities selloff in three months.
Nato allies have been unnerved by Trump’s increasing threats to seize the territory from Denmark, which is a longtime US Nato ally.
But in his year in office, Trump has also repeatedly made severe threats that spooked markets, only to water them down or withdraw them completely.
Trump also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had accepted his invitation to join the Board of Peace initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts, a statement that Putin quickly countered, saying that the invitation was only under consideration.
“He was invited. He’s accepted,” Trump told reporters after meeting with the Nato chief.
Soon after Trump’s comments, Putin told the Russian security council that the foreign ministry was still studying the proposal and would respond in due course.
Putin said he would have contacts today with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner tasked with finding a solution to the nearly four-year-old war with Ukraine.
Putin, quoted by Russian news agencies, also said that he would discuss possible use of frozen Russian assets with the US envoys in connection with recovery work in regions affected by the war.
The US President later said he thought ‘we’re reasonably close’ to a deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, adding he would meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy later in the day.
“I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don’t, they’re stupid,” he said, referring to the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
Trump made his remarks during a question and answer session with a moderator at the World Economic Forum at Davos.
During his address, Trump mocked French President Emmanuel Macron for the aviator sunglasses he was wearing during his own speech at Davos the day before.
“I watched him yesterday, with those beautiful sunglasses. What the hell happened?” Trump said.
Macron’s office has said the choice to wear the dark, reflective sunglasses during his speech, which took place indoors, was to protect his eyes because of a burst blood vessel.
Memes flourished across the Internet after Macron’s speech, some praising him for sporting a ‘Top Gun’ look as he criticised Trump over Greenland, some criticising him.
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