Trump-Greenland latest: US president touts potential Nato deal and drops tariff threat hours after fiery Davos speech

Donald Trump has also suggested there have been talks on creating a missile defence system to ward off potential attacks by Russia and China from across the Arctic, something which he has dubbed the “Golden Dome”.

In a post on Truth Social following his meeting with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte, the US president said: “Additional discussions are being held concerning the Golden Dome as it pertains to Greenland.”

Sweden’s foreign minister has welcomed Donald Trump’s move to back away from tariffs, repeating the statement of European leaders that “we will not let ourselves be blackmailed”.

Maria Stenergard said in a post on X: “Good that Trump has now also backed away from tariffs against us who have supported Denmark and Greenland. The demands for relocated borders have received well-deserved harsh criticism. That is also why we have repeatedly stated that we will not let ourselves be blackmailed. It seems that our work together with allies has had an effect.”

European Union leaders will proceed with an emergency summit on Thursday even after president Donald Trump rowed back on his threats of tariffs against some countries over Greenland, a council spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Donald Trump has said he has formed “the framework of a future deal” over Greenland and so will no longer be imposing tariffs.

The US president said: “Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the secretary general of Nato, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region. This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all Nato Nations.

“Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on 1 February.

“Additional discussions are being held concerning the Golden Dome as it pertains to Greenland.”

Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, the president continued to argue the U.S. needs to take ownership of Greenland to ensure national security.

During the speech he referred to Greenland as a “big piece of ice”. But at one point Trump also repeatedly referred to the country of Iceland.

Paarnannguaq Tiitussen who own a traditional Arctic jewelry store in downtown Nuuk, said that Greenlanders are taking President Trump’s threats “extremely seriously”.

She told The Independent: “We are very worried, it’s scary. We don’t sleep well.”In response to Trump’s insistence that the US would continue to use pressure to take Greenland while ruling out force, she said: “That’s so nasty. He’s threatening us indirectly. It’s still a threat.”

Ms Tiitussen said that Greenalnders understood the importance of having a relationship with the United States and Grreenland but that the territory should have independence and be able to make decisions for itself.

She said: “We are not happy with the colonisation of of Greenland.“I hope it’s empty threats from Trump’s side.”

“What the hell happened?”, Mr Trump asked during his speech on Wednesday (21 January), before adding that “I actually like him, it’s hard to believe”.

Macron addressed the condition days earlier, during an appearance at the military base in Istres, southern France where he said the condition “is completely harmless”.

Hamstrung by his job as secretary general of the North Atlantic treaty Organization Mark Rutte told an audience that he couldn’t comment on Donald Trump’s threats against Greenland but reminded them of Ukraine’s struggles with Russia.

Rutte said: “The focus on Ukraine should be the number one priority, it is crucial for European and U.S. security.

“I am really worried that we lose sight and that in the meantime Ukrainians won’t have enough interceptors to defend themselves.”

He admitted that he was working behind the scenes to try to resolve the issue of Greenland amid tariffs threats against some of Nato’s European members while several national leaders have taken a hard line against Trump.

Rutte also reminded his audience, and the US, that America’s security in the Arctic regions, which border eight nations all but Russia in Nato, depends entirely on the alliance itself.

This is as far as the top bureaucrat in the alliance can go in public. In private he knows that the future of the alliance is hanging by a thread that Trump cold cut on a whim.

After months of trying to ingratiate himself with the most capricious and unpredictable of US presidents with obsequious praise and offers of garlands for a man who is tearing up the international rule book, Sir Keir looks like he has finally had enough.

There is no doubt that his responses to Tory leader Kemi Badenoch during Prime Minister’s Questions represented a new tone and were the first time that Sir Keir has been openly hostile to the man in the White House.

The Independent’s political editor David Maddox reports: