Trump backs off force in Greenland standoff. What changed?
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What led to Trump's initial threats regarding Greenland?
After weeks of escalating threats and bluster regarding Greenland, it seems that President Donald Trump has finally reached a mutual agreement with Denmark. What is it and why does it matter? Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Monday, January 26th, 2026. Joining me to discuss the nitty gritty of the New Deal is USA Today White House correspondent Francesca Chambers. It's good to have you here, Francesca.
What is the strategic value of Greenland for the United States?
Thanks so much. I'd like to start out with a little refresher here. Why is it that Greenland became such a dominant topic of conversation for Trump and his administration? What is its strategic value?
Well, recall that in his first term, President Donald Trump also talked about his desire for the United States to acquire Greenland. So this is something that he has been speaking about for quite a long time. Then once he came back into office last year at the beginning of 2025, he re-raised this issue.
What framework has Trump proposed regarding Greenland?
As far as strategic value goes, I mean, Greenland is situated in the Arctic between the United States as well as Denmark and Russia. So it sits at a point where, as the president has argued, that if there were some sort of a conflict between the United States and its NATO allies against Russia or China, there would be a lot of strategic value there. in having military bases on Greenland, where, by the way, the United States already has a military base and where NATO already operates in conjunction with Denmark. But President Trump, his thinking on this has been if there was any other future conflict that currently he says Denmark doesn't have enough of a military presence on the island. And he's argued that going back to World War II, when the original agreement between the United States and Denmark and its NATO allies came into full force, that Denmark has never had enough of a military presence there.
And that's actually why the United States had to come to Greenland's aid at that time. So he sees this as a decades-long argument that he's now brought to the forefront with tensions on the rise globally.
Francesca, I realize there are still some ongoing negotiations as of this recording, but what's the general framework Trump has shared?
I think it's really important that we refer to it as a framework right now because we don't know all of the details. And it's not... white to a deal yet.
What is the significance of the Golden Dome in Trump's defense strategy?
In fact, President Trump told reporters on his way back from Davos, Switzerland, where he spoke at the International Economic Forum that's held there annually, that this is something that he expects to be worked out in the next two weeks. So we know that there have been conversations about this. We know that President Trump says that he will have total access, the US will have total access access to Greenland is part of this framework. It would somehow involve potentially more U.S. military bases on the island, but we don't know all the details of this. One thing that we also do know is that
How did Trump's Davos speech impact U.S.-Denmark relations?
What's not under discussion right now is the United States actually acquiring or owning Greenland, which was something that President Trump has said all along that he wanted to have here. He has said that the US would need it for psychological purposes. And when he was in Davos, he actually talked in his speech about the fact that he didn't think that leasing it would be a good option. You can't build on or defend things that you lease. When we see this framework not expecting an acquisition of some kind, potentially greater involvement of the United States in the security of Greenland.
Of course, the U.S. and Denmark already have a treaty, the Defense of Greenland Agreement. That's been in place since 1951.
What factors contributed to Trump backing off from using force?
Francesca, what does it say?
So that treaty already allows the United States in cooperation and collaboration with Denmark to to have military bases on the island. I mean, the U.S. does have one there already, but it could have more. And throughout this entire saga, Denmark has been pointing back to that treaty to say that the United States could have more bases and that it was interested in having that conversation with the president.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What led to Trump's initial threats regarding Greenland?
0:05–0:34
2
What is the strategic value of Greenland for the United States?
0:34–1:05
3
What framework has Trump proposed regarding Greenland?
1:05–2:39
4
What is the significance of the Golden Dome in Trump's defense strategy?
2:39–3:17
5
How did Trump's Davos speech impact U.S.-Denmark relations?
3:17–4:03
6
What factors contributed to Trump backing off from using force?
4:03–4:34
7
How has Denmark responded to Trump's concerns about defense?
4:34–5:32
8
What are the implications of Trump's NATO comments on international relations?
5:32–12:20
Speakers
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