US allies will not forget the Trump Greenland crisis

What happened in the last two weeks?

After a successful military operation in Venezuela earlier this month, an emboldened Donald Trump began ratcheting up the rhetoric on Greenland.

Day after day, the world is treated to ownership claims, threats of military action and tariffs against Europe’s traditional allies.

Now, in an apparent puff of smoke, all may have been lost.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, arguably the Trump whisperer-in-chief, it’s like the president is talking from his dangerous high hobby horse.

The ground may have been laid last week during a visit to Washington by the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland. The visit ended with the agreement of a “working group” to discuss the future of Greenland.

But Rutte appears to be dealing with an issue that threatens to tear apart the north Atlantic alliance.

We don’t know the details of the deal yetbut many will wonder why it took a severe two-week crisis to get here.

Denmark has long said it is very happy to see an increased American military presence in Greenland.

If Nato has now pledged to increase its presence in and around the island, then that will go some way to reassuring Donald Trump that the alliance is finally paying proper attention to Greenland.

The New York Times quoted anonymous officials as saying that one idea being discussed was to give Denmark sovereignty over small areas in Greenland where the US would build military bases – similar to the arrangement in which the UK maintains sovereign bases in Cyprus.

Trump said the deal would include access to Greenland’s mineral resources.

Neither Denmark nor Nato have confirmed these or any other reports.

Nato said that the discussions “will focus on ensuring the security of the Arctic through collective efforts, especially the seven Arctic Allies” (US, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland) and aimed to prevent Russia and China from gaining a foothold, economic or military, in Greenland.

It won’t take long for the details of the deal to emerge. But the fact that Donald Trump caused a two-week long drama and a sense of existential crisis within Nato to get here is not easily forgotten.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called it a “breakdown”, saying the old order “is not coming back.”

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke of “seismic change” and urged greater freedom in Europe.

It’s hard to see a quick return to business as usual.