President Donald Trump offered new insight Wednesday into a developing framework for a future deal with NATO over Greenland, making it clear that the agreement would focus on strategic mineral access and cooperation on the Golden Dome missile defense system. While details remain intentionally limited, the direction is unmistakable: security, strength, and long-term Western interests first.
Speaking to CNBC from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump said the framework would ensure U.S. and European involvement in Greenland’s mineral rights while integrating the island into the Golden Dome defense strategy. According to the president, both sides would be involved—America and its allies alike. When asked how long such a deal would last, Trump gave a characteristically blunt answer: “Forever.” Subtlety has never been the point.
Earlier in the day, Trump ruled out using force to acquire Greenland and instead called for immediate negotiations regarding the semi-autonomous island’s future status. Shortly after, he announced that he had reached a framework with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and confirmed that, based on this understanding, the U.S. would not impose tariffs on Denmark and other European countries that had been scheduled to take effect on February 1. In response to the earlier tariff threat, the European Union had halted a trade deal with the United States—until cooler, Trump-led heads prevailed.
Trump declined to elaborate on whether the framework includes any degree of U.S. ownership of Greenland, describing the situation as complex and something that would be explained later. Rutte echoed that assessment, stating that the question of whether Greenland would remain with Denmark did not come up in his discussion with Trump. As the president himself put it, it’s complicated—but clearly moving forward.
Reports from the Daily Mail and The New York Times suggested the framework could include granting the U.S. sovereignty over limited areas of Greenlandic land for military bases, similar to the British base arrangement in Cyprus. The New York Times cited three senior officials familiar with the talks, speaking anonymously.
What is not complicated is Greenland’s strategic value. The island offers critical access to the Arctic, a region where China and Russia have expanded their geopolitical presence as shipping lanes open and competition for natural resources intensifies. Greenland is rich in oil, gold, graphite, copper, iron, and rare-earth elements—resources that matter greatly in both economic and national security terms.
NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart said future discussions would focus on Arctic security, including talks among Denmark, Greenland, and the United States aimed at ensuring that Russia and China never gain an economic or military foothold on the island. That objective aligns directly with Trump’s long-standing insistence that Greenland represents a core U.S. national security interest.
That insistence has renewed attention on the American military presence in Greenland. At one point, the U.S. operated 17 bases on the island and stationed roughly 10,000 troops there. Today, fewer than 200 U.S. personnel remain at a single installation, Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base.
Built in 1951, Pituffik is the northernmost U.S. military installation, complete with barracks, hangars, fuel tanks, and satellite-dish domes. From a nearby mountain plateau, a massive radar system monitors for potential hostile missile launches, while behind the base stretches an ice sheet covering more than 600,000 square miles. Under a longstanding treaty with Denmark, the U.S. maintains broad authority to station troops and expand its presence on the island.
Once again, Trump has put hard strategy ahead of soft rhetoric—focusing on defense, resources, and long-term security rather than empty symbolism. The framework may be complex, but the goal is simple: keep the Arctic secure, keep adversaries out, and keep America and its allies strong for generations to come.
