Trump touts 'total access' Greenland deal as NATO asks allies to step up

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had secured total and permanent U.S. access to Greenland in a deal with NATO, whose head said allies would have to step up their commitment to Arctic security to ward off threats from Russia and China.

News of a framework deal came as Trump backed off tariff threats and ruled out taking Greenland by force, bringing a degree of respite in what was brewing to be the biggest rupture in transatlantic ties in decades

But the details of any agreement were unclear and Denmark insisted its sovereignty over the island was not up for discussion. Denmark's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump's latest comments.

Trump's U-turn had triggered a rebound in European markets but also raised questions about how much damage had already been done to transatlantic ties and business confidence.

"It's really being negotiated now, the details of it. But essentially it's total access. It's - there's no end, there's no time limit," Trump told Fox Business Network in an interview from Davos, where he is attending the World Economic Forum.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told Reuters in an interview in Davos that it was now up to NATO's senior commanders to work through the details of extra security requirements.

"I have no doubt we can do this quite fast. Certainly I would hope for 2026, I hope even early in 2026," he said.

DENMARK SAYS SITUATION REMAINS DIFFICULT

Trump's ambition to wrest sovereignty over Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark has threatened to blow apart the alliance that underpinned Western security since the end of World War Two, and reignite a trade war with Europe.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said no negotiations had been held with NATO regarding the sovereignty of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.