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A promise to renegotiate a US-Denmark pact that governs American military bases in Greenland was at the core of discussions between Donald Trump and Nato’s secretary-general that led the US president to dial back his threats over the Arctic island.
The shift led to a rebound in global markets and helped ease some European fears that the crisis could rupture the transatlantic relationship.
Nato head Mark Rutte and Trump discussed reopening the 1951 pact to strengthen US deployments on the vast Danish territory during their talks on Wednesday, four people briefed on the situation said.
The US president said on Thursday that Greenland could be part of his planned Golden Dome missile defence system for North America.
Rutte and Trump also discussed initiatives to increase US investment in Greenland — which has one of the biggest untapped reserves of minerals in the world — and block Chinese and Russian activity on the vast island, the people said.
Western officials cautioned that the Rutte-Trump compromise was just an initial agreement to continue negotiations to de-escalate tensions between Washington and its European allies.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen emphasised on Thursday that Rutte was not negotiating on her country’s behalf. But the Nato chief kept European allies in the loop in the run-up to the talks, speaking regularly with Frederiksen and calling German Chancellor Friedrich Merz three times on Saturday alone.
Denmark is now anticipating negotiating with the US on a fully fledged deal.
Frederiksen said she wanted “a constructive dialogue with allies” on improving Arctic security, including Trump’s Golden Dome plan, “providing that it is done with respect for our territorial integrity”.
Defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen told public broadcaster DR it was “likely” the outcome of the negotiations could include more US bases on Greenland but “that is something we must discuss with the Americans”.
The US has cut its military presence in Greenland from its peak in the cold war, when it had dozens of facilities and more than 10,000 troops, to just one base and about 150 soldiers today.
The wide-ranging 1951 defence agreement allows the US to set up military bases across Greenland as long as it does not impinge on Denmark’s sovereignty. Greenlandic and Danish officials said they had repeatedly proposed in recent years that the US could increase its military footprint.
Trump emerged from the meeting with Rutte on Wednesday night saying he would drop his threat to impose tariffs on eight European allies he claimed were trying to thwart his desired annexation of Greenland.
A senior EU diplomat said many US business leaders at Davos had expressed “disapproval” at the market upheaval Trump had caused, adding that “Rutte offered him an off-ramp and he took it”.
Trump drew a contrast on Thursday with long-term leases of territories, saying: “It’s really being negotiated now, the details of it, but essentially it’s total access, there’s no end, there’s no time limit.”
“We are getting everything we want at no cost,” he said.
Rutte said the arrangement would allow Nato countries to make the Arctic safer.
Frederiksen added on Thursday morning that no decisions had been taken regarding Greenland’s sovereignty. Denmark could negotiate on everything: “political, security, investments, economy. But we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty,” she said.
One of the people briefed on the Rutte-Trump talks said the status of British bases in Cyprus was a model that could be explored as a way to bolster the US presence on the strategically important island — though the UK holds sovereignty over its bases in Cyprus.
“It remains to be seen what the eventual deal on Greenland would look like,” said one senior western official. “Not for sale, nor for lease. Denmark not willing to compromise. There’s very little change compared to where this all started.”
Danish officials now expect to start negotiations with the US side, led by vice-president JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio, on a deal after agreeing to set up a high-level working group last week.
EU leaders will hold an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday to discuss transatlantic relations. The dinner meeting was hastily convened before Trump retreated from his tariff threat to discuss retaliatory mechanisms drawn up by the European Commission.
The leaders were no longer likely to discuss measures to hit back against Trump for his threats, said a senior EU official involved in summit preparations. “The situation has changed in the past 24 hours,” the official added.
Following Trump’s threats, Rutte — the Dutch head of the US-led military alliance who has emerged as one of Europe’s most effective interlocutors with the Trump administration — went into action and spoke with Trump “very intensively from Saturday”, said a European official briefed on the talks.
“The core of the negotiations was Rutte. He really achieved a very, very big success,” the official added.