President Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social media platform on Wednesday, after talks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“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,” he said.
He did not give details, but said talks would continue to reach the deal.
Rutte, for his part, said he had not discussed the key issue of Danish sovereignty over Greenland in his meeting with Trump.
The view in Denmark is that the issue is far from over and that any agreement must still be hammered out together between Greenland, Denmark and the US.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Danes could 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 either,” she said in a statement on Thursday.
One of two Greenlandic lawmakers in the Danish parliament, Aaja Chenmitz, said: “Nato in no case has the right to negotiate on anything without us, Greenland. Nothing about us without us”.
The UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said she hoped this meant that there would be “the direct discussions that Denmark had asked for, for Denmark, Greenland and the United States on the way forward around Greenland, protecting Greenland’s sovereignty”.
