US, Denmark Start Talks Over Greenland Deal To Assuage Trump

US, Danish, and Greenlandic officials met Wednesday to discuss a new framework deal over Greenland, an attempt to satisfy President Donald Trump's desire to see a greater American presence on the Arctic island that stops short of ceding it to the US.

The senior officials met to "discuss how we can address US concerns about security in the Arctic while respecting the red lines of the Kingdom," said Oliver Routhe Skov, the spokesman for Denmark's embassy to the US.

The negotiations follow Trump's announcement last week of a "framework of a future deal," in which he pledged to refrain from imposing tariffs on European nations opposing his effort to take possession of Greenland.

The about-face came after weeks of mounting pressure by Trump on Denmark and Greenland to give the US control over the strategic Arctic island, which is a semi-autonomous territory under NATO ally Denmark's rule. The repeated threats prompted an outcry from Danish and Greenlandic officials and other European allies. 

Denmark and Greenland's leaders are in Berlin and Paris this week to shore up European backing amid the negotiations with the US. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier Wednesday told lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that "we're in a good place right now" on Greenland, as Democratic lawmakers criticized the Trump administration for alienating North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies.

"We have in place a process that's going to bring us to a good outcome for everybody," Rubio said, adding that the talks would take place in a "very professional, straightforward way."

Trump announced the planned deal following a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where the two leaders discussed the stationing of US missiles, mining rights aimed at keeping out Chinese interests and a bolstered NATO presence in the Arctic.

Danish officials have said they'd be ready to negotiate and review cooperation with the US on Greenland, as long as it stopped short of questions about the island's sovereignty.

US officials are looking at a revision of the country's defense agreement with Denmark to remove any limits on its military presence in Greenland as part of the negotiations, Bloomberg previously reported.

The original agreement, signed in 1951 and amended in 2004, says the US must "consult with and inform" Denmark and Greenland before it makes "any significant changes to United States military operations or facilities in Greenland."