Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen holds a press convention in Nuuk, Greenland, Jan. 22, 2026.
Marko Djurica | Reuters
Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen stated in a press convention Thursday he does not know what’s within the “framework” deal that President Donald Trump introduced after assembly with NATO’s chief a day earlier.
However Nielsen confused that no deal involving Greenland may be struck with out the island and its governing kingdom of Denmark having a say.
And any such deal should respect Greenland’s “pink traces” — together with its sovereignty and territorial integrity, he added.
“We select the Kingdom of Denmark. We select the EU. We select NATO,” Nielsen informed the press in Nuuk. “This isn’t solely a state of affairs for Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark, it is concerning the world order for all of us.”
The remarks echoed Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s earlier assertion sustaining that Greenland’s sovereignty is non-negotiable.
Nielsen’s feedback got here in the future after Trump — who has spent weeks aggressively pressuring Europe over a proposed U.S. takeover of Greenland — abruptly introduced that he and NATO Secretary Basic Mark Rutte have solid the “framework of a future deal.”
The announcement, delivered in a Reality Social publish following a closed-door assembly in Davos, Switzerland, was mild on particulars. In a CNBC interview, Trump referred to as it the “idea of a deal” and stated he would “clarify it down the road.”
However the settlement was apparently sufficient for Trump to cancel the forthcoming tariffs he had slapped on eight European international locations that had come to Greenland’s protection amid the president’s saber-rattling.
Trump urged to CNBC that the framework entails mineral rights for the U.S., in addition to the Trump administration’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile protection system.
In the meantime, The New York Occasions reported Wednesday that some NATO officers had individually mentioned a potential compromise wherein the U.S. would get sovereignty over “small pockets of Greenland for army bases.”
Nielsen on Thursday rejected that proposal out of hand, whereas repeatedly noting that he has not been informed what the Trump-Rutte framework entails.
“I do not know what’s concrete in that deal,” he stated. “However I do know that we have now now a high-level working group engaged on an answer for each events.”
“We’ve some pink traces” that can’t be crossed, Nielsen stated. “We’ve to respect our territorial integrity. We’ve to respect worldwide legislation, sovereignty.”
“Our integrity and our borders and worldwide legislation is unquestionably, positively a pink line that we do not need anybody to cross,” he added later within the presser. “And I do not assume that’s unusual in any respect.”
Nielsen stated that he believes these pink traces, which had been not too long ago relayed to Rutte from Danish and Greenlandic officers, have since “been delivered” to Trump.
Greenland is keen to barter with the U.S. on economics and different issues, “however that is one thing we have now to speak about in mutual respect,” he added.
Nielsen additionally straight criticized the Trump administration’s aggression towards Greenland, together with the current flare-up in tensions that, till Wednesday, included the opportunity of U.S. army motion.
“Little question, the rhetoric we have now heard the final yr is unacceptable for us,” he stated, including that it’s tough to take care of a respectful dialogue when his residents “each night time hear threats about buying and taking.”
“Attempt to think about how it’s as Greenlanders, as individuals right here, peaceable individuals in Greenland, hear and see within the media day-after-day that any individual needs to take your freedom.”
