US President Donald Trump said he had agreed to a meeting of “various parties” over Greenland at the World Economic Forum in Davos, after holding a “very good” telephone call with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte.
On his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, Trump wrote: “I had a very good telephone call with Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of Nato, concerning Greenland.”
He added that he had “agreed to a meeting of the various parties in Davos, Switzerland”. Trump is expected at the forum on Wednesday.
“As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World security. There can be no going back,” he wrote.
Trump’s comments come amid escalating tensions between Europe and Washington over the US president’s threats to seize the Arctic island.
Denmark on Monday sent a “substantial contribution” of soldiers and the head of its army to the autonomous territory, on top of the more than 200 troops already present there.
Trump on Tuesday posted what appeared to be an AI-generated image of himself, vice-president JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio in Greenland with an American flag and a sign reading: “US territory EST 2026.”
The US president’s threat to impose 10 per cent tariffs on European states has raised the spectre of a trade war with the region, plunging the transatlantic relationship into crisis.
On Tuesday at Davos, US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent urged America’s trading partners to “take a deep breath and let things play out”, adding that “the worst thing countries can do is escalate against the US”.
He also reiterated America’s support for Nato, saying “of course Europe is an ally”.
The comments marked a change in tone from Bessent, who on Monday derided the potential European response, which he said would likely take the form of “the dreaded European working group” rather than rapid action.
In a barrage of social media posts on Tuesday, Trump attacked the UK’s plans to “give away the Island of Diego Garcia”, citing the deal signed by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in May to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as “another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired”.
Trump also posted screenshots of text messages apparently from Rutte, praising him for his “incredible” accomplishment in Syria and saying he was “committed to finding a way forward on Greenland”.
The US president posted additional messages from Emmanuel Macron, in which the French president said: “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland.”
Macron also suggested convening a G7 meeting at Davos, to which he would invite Ukraine, Denmark, Syria and Russia.