An extraordinary day in Davos ended last night with the surprise announcement from US president Donald Trump that he had withdrawn his threat of new tariffs against eight European countries. This was because he had reached “ the framework of a future deal” for Greenland and “the entire Arctic region” with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte. As we must assume Rutte has not suggested that ownership of Greenland be handed over to the US, this is quite the reversal from a president who a few hours earlier had insisted on just that.
There are more questions than answers about what is going on. What exactly is now on the table? Who has agreed to the outline framework? And why has Trump apparently reversed course?
Earlier, in a rambling and self-congratulatory speech to delegates, the US president said that he would not take military action to get control of Greenland but was insistent that the US would “acquire” the island. No other arrangement, he said, would suffice.
Now we must assume that whatever has emerged in talks with Rutte is something he feels he can sell to the US public. His only comment yesterday evening was that it involved his “Golden Dome” defence system and mineral rights for the US. Trump will talk up a deal – if one does emerge from the negotiations due to get underway shortly – as another great victory. But that may well be some way off and more bumps in the road may well lie ahead in the Greenland story.
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Europe’s leaders, harangued and mocked by Trump during his speech, had been due to consider a response to his threats today. They will be examining the details on what the framework for talks entails. They will note that Trump has kept the imposition of the additional tariffs as a threat if a deal is not concluded.
But they will also see that the US president has appeared to climb down. If we look at the substance of his speech rather than the rhetoric, Trump withdrew the threat of military action and then said that if a deal on ownership of Greenland was not done, then “we will remember.” It seemed a change of tone and Europe will ask why it happened. Was it due to unease within the administration or the Republican Party? Were there concerns about the markets, which had wobbled though not collapsed?
EU leaders would be well advised to game plan what may happen and have their responses ready if Trump ups the ante again on Greenland, or elsewhere. Canadian prime minister Mark Carney spoke in Davos about how the world had changed and how nostalgia for the way things were “ is not a policy.”
It was good advice. Because even if the present transatlantic crisis has been defused, Trump’s antipathy towards America’s European allies remains as strong and deep-rooted as ever.
