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After President Donald Trump announced a new Greenland “framework” had been agreed upon with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, the NATO chief told Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” the U.S. forcibly taking control of Greenland from Denmark was not discussed during meetings between him and Trump in Switzerland during the World Economic Forum.
“That issue did not come up anymore in my conversations with Mr. President. He’s very much focused on what we need to do to make sure that that huge Arctic region, where change is taking place at the moment, where the Chinese and Russians are more and more active, how we can protect that,” Rutte said when pressed on the details of the reported “framework” that has been agreed upon.
Trump said the agreement resulted in his decision not to impose tariffs scheduled to go into effect Feb. 1.
“That was really the focus of our discussions,” Rutte insisted.
TRUMP’S ‘SMALL ASK’ FOR GREENLAND WOULD BE THE REAL ESTATE DEAL OF A LIFETIME
Trump announced the new “framework” for Greenland in a post on his social media site Truth Social Wednesday afternoon while at the World Economic Forum this week.
“Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,” the president wrote. “Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st. Additional discussions are being held concerning The Golden Dome as it pertains to Greenland. Further information will be made available as discussions progress.”
Trump noted that Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff will lead “the negotiations” and report directly to him.
TRUMP TELLS DAVOS US ALONE CAN SECURE GREENLAND, INSISTS HE WON’T ‘USE FORCE’
“We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable. But I won’t do that,” Trump said earlier in the morning at the World Economic Forum. “Now everyone’s saying, ‘Oh, good.’ That’s probably the biggest statement I made because people thought I would use force. I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”
During the exclusive interview with Fox News, Rutte called Trump “totally right” about needing to shore up security in the Arctic region, noting that the chance of Russia or China becoming a threat in that region is increasing every day. The NATO Secretary General also praised Trump’s leadership in getting other NATO countries to pay more money for the alliance’s defenses.
“I would argue tonight with you on this program he was the one who brought a whole of Europe and Canada up to this famous 5%,” Rutte insisted, “which is crucial for us to equalize our spending, but also protect ourselves. And this is the framework which you see in his post that we will work on.”
Rutte also noted that increased volatility between NATO-aligned countries, Russia and China underscored the need to shore up security in the Arctic region.
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The NATO chief was asked whether he thought other countries were dealing with the Russians and the Chinese differently than they have in the past.
“It’s not up to me to comment on what individual allies are doing in terms of their relationship with China,” Rutte responded. “I think collectively, as NATO, we have a position. The position is that we should not be naive. I can tell you’ll regret these huge investments the Chinese are making in the military. They are not there to organize parades in Beijing, and the military in Russia are not there to organize parades in Moscow. They are there to be used.”
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