As part of a proposed deal agreed in Davos, Switzerland, the United States will control parts of Greenland by designating them as sovereign base areas.
During his speech at the World Economic Forum, Trump made his case for why the United States should own the “big, beautiful piece of ice” – which he seemed to repeatedly confuse with Iceland.
But what the new Greenland deal means is that the US might not annex Denmark’s autonomous territory after all, which is what Trump previously threatened.
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According to The Telegraph, American bases would be considered US territory in the Arctic region, per the draft framework which mimics Britain’s agreement with Cyprus.
The United Kingdom retains a military presence and has sovereignty over two military bases in Cyprus, in order to keep a strategic location and for use as a staging point for forces sent to locations in the Middle East and Asia.
The framework for Greenland was agreed on Wednesday evening by the US president and Mark Rutte, the NATO secretary-general.
The terms of the deal weren’t explained by Trump in interviews, however the issue of ownership was a “little complex”, according to the American leader.
“It’s a deal that people jumped at, really fantastic for the USA, gets everything we wanted, including especially real national security and international security”, Trump said, speaking to reporters.
As per the framework, the US can perform military operations, intelligence, and training, while also facilitating some local development including potentially mining for rare earth minerals.
And the US can do this without seeking permission from Denmark.
However, many have pointed out this is almost identical to the agreement America already had regarding Greenland.
Trump has said that he views Greenland as being strategically important to America’s defence, while the Cyprus-UK style plan is seen as a creative work-around to his demands for ownership of the island.
Diplomatic sources told CBS that there was no agreement for American control or ownership of the territory, and Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte said he did not discuss Danish sovereignty over Greenland in his meeting with Trump.