President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reached a verbal understanding about Greenland during their meeting on Wednesday, but no document has been produced yet memorializing a future deal, people familiar with their discussion told CNN.
Trump and Rutte agreed to further discussions about updating a 1951 agreement between the US, Denmark and Greenland that governs the US military’s presence on the island, the sources said. The deal framework also guarantees that Russia and China will be barred from any investments in Greenland and lays out an enhanced role for NATO in Greenland, they said.
Two of the sources said another element of a possible deal is increased US access to Greenland’s natural resources, including its mineral reserves. But Rutte on Thursday denied that he had discussed this issue with Trump directly.
The White House said previously that details of the plan would be released as they are finalized, and a spokeswoman repeated that Thursday.
“If this deal goes through, and President Trump is very hopeful it will, the United States will be achieving all of its strategic goals with respect to Greenland, at very little cost, forever. President Trump is proving once again he’s the Dealmaker in Chief. As details are finalized by all parties involved, they will be released accordingly,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.
One person familiar with the discussions said Rutte did not want any formal documents prepared during his meeting with Trump because he was concerned they could leak — or be posted by Trump himself on social media. Trump earlier this week posted a private message Rutte sent to him ahead of their talks.
But the lack of any written documentation has caused some confusion among NATO allies about what was actually agreed upon. A document detailing the specific terms of a new deal is expected to be hammered out at the next meeting of the US-Denmark-Greenland working group, which was established last week after Danish and Greenlandic officials met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, two of the sources said. That meeting could happen as soon as next week in Washington, DC, one of the sources said.
NATO officials had also previously floated the idea that Denmark could allow the US to build more military bases in Greenland that would be constructed on land considered sovereign US territory, a NATO official told CNN. But Danish officials said there have been no direct discussions between Denmark and the US about the possibility of granting the US sovereign parcels of land, and a NATO spokesperson said Rutte did not discuss it with Trump on Wednesday.
“NATO is fully aware of the Kingdom of Denmark’s position,” Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement on Thursday. “We can negotiate on everything political; security, investments, economy. But we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty. I have been informed that this has not been the case.”
Posted by John3262005
9 Comments
You know, I really hate these verbal agreements. Normally, I understand why it would happen in any other administration but with this administration, I doubt I trust any agreement with them.
Also, this tidbit is just “great”
*One person familiar with the discussions said Rutte did not want any formal documents prepared during his meeting with Trump because he was concerned they could leak — or be posted by Trump himself on social media. Trump earlier this week posted a private message Rutte sent to him ahead of their talks.*
Can’t trust an ally because you think they or someone in their administration will leak it. (Most likely the president)
Always a “great” way for our allies to see us
This saga has been a shitshow and an embarrassment for the media. Lmk when there is an actual deal. Otherwise BREAKING NEWS fishing is just making everyone dumber
This is like when someone offhanded asks me to do something that I don’t want to, during a meeting, and I give the less than meaningless “I’ll follow up with you about that” hoping they forget, but instead it’s NATO hoping Trump will forget and/or die.
This is how every single one of Trump’s “trade deals” has gone this administration so it’s not surprising the Greenland thing is like this.
Verbal agreements with no framework that gets forgotten about quickly because our president lacks object permanence
The agreement is made in vibes only
Sounds like maybe Rutte finessed Trump (again)?
to be fair, Trump did same “framework” (or was it “concept of a framework?”)
amazing how the right-wing ecosystem has already spun this into a decisive Trump victory.
Like damn, there isn’t even a symbolic “victory”, at least in the form of Denmark trying to appease Trump, nor did he gain anything at all, even useless shit. Their narrative is more malleable than gold.
Sounds like concepts of a plan. I’ll wait for this and the health care plan.