NATO chief says Arctic security, not US control of Greenland, was focus of Trump talks

After president Donald Trump announced a new Greenland “framework” agreed to with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the NATO chief told Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” that US forceful control of Greenland, away from Denmark, was not discussed during meetings between him and President Donald Trump in Switzerland during the World Economic Forum.

“This issue has not come up anymore in my conversations with Mr. President,” Rutte said when pressed on the details of the reported “framework” agreed upon, which Trump said led to his decision not to impose certain tariffs set to take effect on February 1. “He has focused a lot on what do we need to do to make sure that the huge Arctic region, where the change is happening right now, where the Chinese and the Russians are more and more active, how do we protect that.”

“This was really the focus of our discussions,” Rutte insisted.

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Trump announced the new Greenland-related “framework” in a post on his social media site Truth Social on Wednesday afternoon while at the World Economic Forum this week.

“Based on the very productive meeting I had with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future agreement with regard to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic region,” the president wrote. “Based on this understanding, I will not impose the tariffs that were scheduled to take effect on February 1. Additional discussions regarding the Golden Dome are ongoing with respect to Greenland. More information will be provided as the discussions progress.”

Trump indicated that Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff would lead the “negotiations” and report directly to him.

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People wave Greenlandic flags during a mass demonstration opposing President Donald Trump’s proposal to acquire Greenland, in Nuuk, Greenland, on January 17, 2026. (Celal Gunes/Anatolia via Getty Images; Alessandro Rampazzo/AFP via Getty Images)

“We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive force where frankly we can’t be stopped. But I won’t do that,” Trump said earlier in the morning at the World Economic Forum. “Now everyone’s like, ‘Oh, good.’ That was probably the biggest statement I made, because people thought I was going to use force. You don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. “I will not use force.”

During the exclusive interview with Fox News, Rutte called Trump “absolutely right” about the need to strengthen security in the Arctic region, noting that the chance of Russia or China becoming a threat in that region increases every day. The NATO Secretary General also praised Trump’s leadership in convincing other NATO countries to pay more money for the alliance’s defenses.

“I would like to argue with you tonight about this program,” Rutte insisted, “because it is the program that brought the whole of Europe and Canada to that famous 5%.” “Which is critical for us to balance our spending, but also to protect ourselves. And that’s the framework that you see in his post that we’ll be working on.”

Rutte also noted that the growing volatility between NATO member states, Russia and China underscores the need to strengthen security in the Arctic region, during his interview with Fox News on Wednesday evening.

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Meanwhile, the NATO Secretary General was asked whether he thought other countries were dealing with the Russians and Chinese differently than in the past.

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“It is not my place to comment on what individual allies are doing regarding their relations with China,” Rutte responded. “I think collectively, as NATO, we have a position. The position is that we should not be naive. I can say that you will regret these huge investments that the Chinese are making in the military. They are not there to stage shows in Beijing, and the military in Russia is not there to stage shows in Moscow. They are there to be used.”