Trump Says He Had ‘Very Good’ Greenland Call With NATO Leader
"It's going to be a very interesting Davos," the U.S. president said before flying to Switzerland, where he will meet leaders opposed to his Arctic ambitions.
U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speak to media at the start of the second day of the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands., on June 25, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had a "very good" telephone call with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, in which the escalating political standoff around Greenland was discussed.
Trump also said on his Truth Social platform that he had agreed to a meeting of various parties at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. He did not name those he had arranged to sit down with at the elite global gathering.
"As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security. There can be no going back - On that, everyone agrees!" he wrote, adding that the United States is the most powerful country on Earth and the only one that could ensure world peace.
Trump had earlier told reporters that the United States would talk about acquiring Greenland from Denmark while he was at Davos because the Danish kingdom cannot safeguard the semi-autonomous territory against potential aggressors.
When asked about the significant pushback against the idea from European NATO-allied countries, he told reporters on Monday night, “Let’s put it this way: It’s going to be a very interesting Davos.”
Private Messages
The U.S. president was scheduled to arrive in Switzerland on the first anniversary of the inauguration of his second term in office.
Geopolitical tensions around Greenland have ramped up over the past week, with Trump saying he would increase tariffs on the eight most vocal NATO members opposing U.S. acquisition of the Arctic island—Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland—"until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.”
Trump made a series of early morning posts on Truth Social, including a shared screenshot from Rutte, in which the NATO leader thanked Trump for his role in peace negotiations in Gaza, Syria, and Ukraine. The message added, "I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland. Can't wait to see you, Mark."
Trump also shared an AI-generated image of European leaders in the Oval Office confronted with a map with the stars and stripes of the U.S. flag covering Greenland, Venezuela, and Canada. He posted another AI image of himself, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio planting the United States flag in Greenland.
People hold a protest against President Donald Trump's goal of the United States acquiring Greenland, in front of the U.S. Consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, on Jan. 17, 2026. AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka
Warning From Macron
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took to the stage in Davos on Tuesday to describe Trump's proposed tariffs over Greenland as a “mistake," while French President Emmanuel Macron warned the situation could result in the EU deploying one of its most powerful tools of retaliation.
“The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal last July,” von der Leyen said. “And in politics as in business, a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something.”
Macron used his speech to warn that the additional tariffs could persuade the EU to use its Anti-Coercion Instrument "for the very first time” against the United States.
“Can you imagine that?” he said, adding that the focus on Greenland was diverting attention away from the negotiations to bring peace to Ukraine.
He said that the mechanism, adopted in 2023 and designed to protect the 27 EU member states from economic blackmail, “is a powerful instrument and we should not hesitate to deploy it in today’s tough environment.”
The mechanism could result in retaliatory tariffs or restrictions on access to the EU Single Market for U.S. businesses.
In his overnight flurry of posts, Trump also published screenshots of personal messages sent to him by the French president, in which Macron expressed his confusion over the Greenland situation before offering to set up a dinner in Paris with the Syrians, the Danish, the Ukrainians, and the Russians "in the margins."
"My friend, we are totally in line on Syria. We can do great things on Iran. I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland. Let us try to build great things," Macron wrote.
French President Emmanuel Macron attends the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 20, 2026. Reuters/Denis Balibouse
Greenland has not been a Danish colony since 1953, when it was integrated into the Kingdom of Denmark, and could therefore not be bought from Denmark in the way that Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1857.
Trump has said Greenland should become part of the United States because of the threat from Russia and China in the Arctic region. He has accused Denmark of not doing enough to safeguard the island, which is located on a missile flight path between North America and Russia, and on a less direct path to China. The Kremlin has accused the United States of double standards over Greenland and said that Trump is promoting anti-Russian rhetoric.
Greenland has been the frontier of American early warning systems in the event of a nuclear attack since the Cold War, with the first ballistic missile early warning system set up there in 1960.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen talks during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 20, 2026. AP Photo/Markus Schreiber
Threats Talked Down
Some European leaders, including British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, have suggested that Trump is not serious in his threats to start a tariff war with allied countries, while senior U.S. officials, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, have rejected the possibility of the United States taking Greenland by force.
The governments of both Denmark and Greenland have repeatedly said the island is not for sale and that its people, who are chiefly of Inuit descent, do not want to be part of the United States.
A January 2025 poll showed that a majority of Greenlanders (56 percent) favor independence from Denmark, although the economy depends heavily on subsidies from Copenhagen. Just 6 percent of respondents said they wanted to be a part of the United States, although they were not asked about other kinds of potential deals with Washington.
An existing treaty signed with Denmark in 1951 gives the United States military access to the island, operating within the framework of NATO and Danish sovereignty, with Denmark retaining ultimate authority. A bilateral defense cooperation treaty between the United States and Denmark, signed in December 2023, expanded the earlier treaty to allow a more permanent presence of U.S. forces at specific Danish military bases.
Trump is due to give a speech to delegates in Davos on Wednesday.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
