Trump calls off tariffs on Europe over Greenland

President Trump said he wouldn’t impose tariffs on several European nations after he reached the “framework of a future deal” on Greenland and the Arctic region with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. He previously said the US wouldn’t use force to acquire Greenland, and repeated his claim that only the US is capable of defending it.

In an address in Davos that lasted for more than an hour, Trump said the US needs to take control of Greenland purely for security and not for access to minerals, calling Denmark “ungrateful” for US action in World War II.

The speech came on the back of raised tensions between the US and Europe over the President’s designs on Greenland. Trump said that the US received nothing from NATO apart from what he described as protecting Europe.

Trump said in a social media post the deal he reached “will be a great one” for both the US and NATO allies, but did not elaborate on the details of the agreement with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

“Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st,” Trump wrote. The deal eases tensions over control of Greenland, which Trump has aggressively sought to wrest control of from Denmark while citing national security concerns.

Trump said discussions around a missile defense system pertaining to Greenland are part of the negotiations, which will be led by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

It appears that while NATO will still be strained for a long time, the alliance has not officially ended.