Trump backs off military threat to Greenland

He says the U.S. has made a 'framework' deal with NATO chief over territory's future.

- BY MICHAEL WILNER AND ANA CEBALLOS

President Trump retreated Wednesday from his most serious threats toward Denmark, easing transatlantic tensions and lifting Wall Street after rejecting the prospect he would use military force to annex Greenland, a Danish territory and the world's largest island.

Instead, the United States struck a “framework” agreement in talks with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's secretary-general regarding the future of Greenland, Trump wrote on social media. He provided few details but told reporters that the plan, if agreed upon and implemented, would be “the ultimate long-term deal.”

The whiplash of developments followed weeks of escalating threats from the president to control Greenland by any means necessary — including by force, if left with no other choice.

Now, “the military’s not on the table,” Trump told reporters at the economic forum in Switzerland, acknowledging sighs of relief throughout the room.

“I don’t think it will be necessary,” he said. “I really don’t. I think people are going to use better judgment.”

It was a turn of events that came as welcome news in Nuuk, where signs hang in storefronts and kitchen windows rejecting American imperialism.

“It’s difficult to say what are negotiating tactics, and what the foundation is for him saying all of this,” said Finn Meinel, an attorney born and raised in the Greenlandic capital. “It could be that joint pressure from the EU and NATO countries has made an impact, as well as the economic numbers in the States. Maybe that has had an influence.”

In his speech at Davos, Trump took note of the market turmoil his threats against Greenland had caused entering the conference. Announcing the agreement framework on social media Wednesday, he said he would pause punitive tariffs planned against longstanding European allies that had refused to support his demands.