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 that 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 emphasised that no deal involving Greenland could be struck with out the island and its governing kingdom, Denmark, having a say.
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 advised the press in Nuuk, Greenland. “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 Common Mark Rutte have cast the “framework of a future deal.”
The announcement, delivered in a Reality Social put up following a closed-door assembly in Davos, Switzerland, was mild on particulars. In a CNBC interview, Trump known 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 imposed on eight European international locations that had come to Greenland’s protection amid the president’s saber-rattling.
Trump recommended to CNBC that the framework includes 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 attainable compromise by which the U.S. would get sovereignty over “small pockets of Greenland for navy bases.”
Nielsen on Thursday rejected that proposal out of hand, whereas repeatedly noting that he has not been advised what the Trump-Rutte framework entails.
“I do not know what’s concrete in that deal,” he stated. “However I do know that we now have now a high-level working group engaged on an answer for each events.”
“We have now some pink traces” that can’t be crossed, Nielsen stated. “We have now to respect our territorial integrity. We have now to respect worldwide regulation, sovereignty.”
“Our integrity and our borders and worldwide regulation is certainly, undoubtedly a pink line that we do not need anybody to cross,” he added later within the presser. “And I do not suppose that’s unusual in any respect.”
Nielsen stated that he believes these pink traces, which have been lately relayed to Rutte from Danish and Greenlandic officers, have since “been delivered” to Trump.
However there’s been “nothing a few deal on mineral sources or anything,” he stated.
Greenland is prepared to barter with the U.S. on economics and different issues, “however that is one thing we now have to speak about in mutual respect,” he added.
Nielsen additionally immediately criticized the Trump administration’s aggression towards Greenland, together with the current flare-up in tensions that, till Wednesday, included the potential for U.S. navy motion.
“Little doubt, the rhetoric we now have heard the final 12 months is unacceptable for us,” he stated, including that it’s troublesome to take care of a respectful dialogue when Greenland’s residents “each evening hear threats about buying and taking.”
“Attempt to think about how it’s as Greenlanders, as folks right here, peaceable folks in Greenland, hear and see within the media daily that someone desires to take your freedom.”
