Trump’s ‘forever’ Greenland deal with Rutte leaves Europe without answers

Good morning. Donald Trump is touting a “great” agreement to achieve his aims in Greenland, suggesting he has defused a geopolitical crisis of his own making that threatened to rupture the eight-decade-old transatlantic alliance.

Today, I bring more details of the purported deal, and our tech correspondent reports on the widespread disappointment at the European Commission’s telecom network reforms.

Whiplash

US President Donald Trump has claimed he clinched an “infinite deal” with Nato’s chief Mark Rutte to achieve his aims in Greenland, in a shock announcement last night that throws Europe’s stance towards the Danish Arctic island into confusion.

Context: Trump had previously vowed that he must “have” Greenland, by any means necessary, and threatened trade tariffs against European countries opposing his conquest. The campaign sparked the biggest crisis in transatlantic relations in decades.

But after a meeting with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte in Davos yesterday, Trump said the two men had struck “the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland”.

“It’s a deal that’s forever,” Trump said last night. “It’s what’s called an infinite deal.”

In his speech at the World Economic Forum hours earlier, Trump had reaffirmed his desire to secure “right, title and ownership” of Greenland, and that any allies who opposed him would suffer unnamed consequences.

As such, Denmark responded with caution to the purported deal.

Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the country’s foreign minister, said: “The day is ending on a better note than it began. We welcome that [Trump] has ruled out to take Greenland by force and paused the trade war. Now, let’s sit down and find out how we can address the American security concerns in the Arctic while respecting the red lines of [Denmark].”

Denmark and Greenland have ruled out any sale of the territory or transfer of sovereignty without the Greenlandic people’s consent.

Rutte’s spokesperson said in a statement that he “had a very productive meeting with President Trump during which they discussed the critical significance of security in the Arctic region”, adding that negotiations between Denmark, Greenland and the US will continue.

Critically for the EU, Trump also rescinded his threat to impose tariffs against European countries. That will be a relief to the EU’s 27 leaders meeting in Brussels tonight for a hastily arranged summit — if they trust him.

The emergency meeting was called to discuss how to best retaliate against Trump’s threats and defend Greenland. Last night, many diplomats involved in the preparations said they were still wary that the danger of a mercurial, imperialistic leader with little respect for Europe’s sovereignty had passed.

“It makes no difference whatsoever,” said one diplomat of the apparent Trump pivot. “You can’t trade sovereignty.”

Chart du jour: No vacancy

Many new graduates are struggling to find work in today’s harsh jobs market, as global hiring remains 20 per cent below pre-pandemic levels, job switching is at a 10-year low and AI is disrupting how we work.

Disconnect

A highly anticipated reform of Europe’s connectivity networks has managed to disappoint both European telecom companies and Big Tech, writes Barbara Moens.

Context: The Digital Networks Act unveiled yesterday is a key effort to follow up on recommendations made by former Italian prime ministers Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi, who wrote reports on how to strengthen the EU’s single market and keep up with the US and China.

According to Henna Virkkunen, the EU’s tech chief, the European Commission is now delivering on that agenda. “This was very much underlined in Letta’s report and Draghi’s report that the telecom sector is one of the sectors where we have to create more single market,” Virkkunen told the FT. 

The commission proposes to streamline existing legislation in one regulation, create a single mechanism for operators who are active in several EU countries and ensure stronger European co-ordination in the assignment of radio frequencies to companies.

But the telecom sector has been underwhelmed by the new law.

“Less than half of Draghi’s telecom recommendations are fully implemented,” said Alessandro Gropelli of industry body Connect Europe. “For the DNA to make a difference on investment we need to deregulate fibre, simplify and create a level playing field with tech platforms.”

Telecom providers have long lobbied the commission to force Big Tech companies to pay a network fee to compensate for their internet traffic. Instead, Brussels is proposing a voluntary co-operation mechanism between telcos and Big Tech.

Big Tech, on the other hand, fears a possible resurrection of the network fees idea if the voluntary mechanism leads to “regulation for regulation’s sake”, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, whose members include many Big Tech groups, said.

What to watch today

1. EU leaders meet for an extraordinary summit in Brussels.

2. EU justice and home affairs ministers hold an informal meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus.

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