President Trump said Thursday that the US will receive “total access” to Greenland under the terms of a “framework” deal announced a day earlier at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“We’re talking about, it’s really being negotiated now, the details of it, but essentially it’s total access,” Trump told Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria.”
“There’s no end, there’s no time limit.”
The president, who also ruled out using military force to annex the world’s largest island Wednesday, stressed that Greenland is critical to national security and will be used for his vaunted space-based Golden Dome missile defense system.
The president has long set his sights on obtaining Greenland for the US, but had stepped up his rhetoric toward Denmark, the current owner of the island, and other European countries in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, Trump threatened to impose 10% tariffs on eight European countries starting Feb. 1 due to frustration with them sending troops to Greenland in an apparent show of defiance against Washington.
But on Wednesday, following a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the president called off the tariffs and announced the deal outline was in place.
Details of the framework are still murky, but reports indicate the US would get more control over land hosting US military installations, as well as European agreement to beef up Arctic security.
Pressed about whether the framework means the US will ultimately obtain Greenland, Trump responded: “I don’t know if I can say that. But it could be. It’s possible. Anything is possible.”
Multiple European officials have stressed that the framework leaves Denmark in control of the island.
Trump also threatened Denmark if its pension fund opts to sell its US Treasury holdings amid the row over Greenland.
“If that happened,” he warned, “there’d be big retaliation on our part, and we have all the cards.”
