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US President Donald Trump on Saturday claimed that negotiations over Greenland were already underway and close to an agreement, calling the talks a “very important deal” from a national security perspective. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said discussions on Greenland had moved forward, though he did not provide details on the nature or scope of the negotiations.

“We have started a negotiation, and I think it's pretty well agreed to. I mean, they want us to do it,” Trump said. “I think it's gonna be a good deal for everybody, very important deal actually, from a national security point of view, very, very important deal. I think we're going to make a deal there.”

According to foreign media reports, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said earlier this week that initial talks involving Denmark, the United States and Greenland had “gone well”, though he cautioned that the dispute over the Arctic island’s future remained unresolved.

Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt met US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on January 14, where the sides agreed to establish a “working group” to discuss Greenland and Arctic security amid Trump’s renewed push to take over the self-governing Danish territory.

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Rasmussen told a foreign media outlet that progress was temporarily disrupted after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on several European countries unless they agreed to hand over Greenland. “After that there was a huge derailment,” Rasmussen was quoted as saying. Trump later walked back the tariff threat, saying he had reached a “framework” toward a deal with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, though details of that understanding have not been made public.

“Things escalated, but now we are back on track,” Rasmussen told reporters at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, adding that the first meeting of the working group “went well and took place in a constructive atmosphere and tone.” He said further talks were planned and added that he was “a little more optimistic” than he had been a week earlier.

Trump’s earlier comments about seizing Greenland had unsettled European capitals and strained transatlantic relations, prompting discussions within the European Union about strengthening unity and reducing security dependence on the US. France and Germany had urged the EU to consider deploying its Anti-Coercion Instrument before Trump stepped back from the tariff threat. Rasmussen credited European solidarity for the shift in Washington’s approach, according to foreign media reports.

“It has become clear that the price for going down that path has been too high,” he said.

Separately, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said earlier that technical-level talks among the US, Denmark and Greenland on an Arctic security arrangement were now underway. The working group was formally created after repeated calls by Trump for the US to take over Greenland to counter perceived threats from Russia and China — proposals that Denmark, Greenland and European allies had strongly rejected.

“It begins today and it will be a regular process,” Rubio said while testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “We’re going to try to do it in a way that isn’t like a media circus every time these conversations happen, because we think that creates more flexibility on both sides to arrive at a positive outcome.”

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On January 21, during the third day of the 2026 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Trump sought to clarify the US position on Greenland’s sovereignty. He said the United States would not use military force to acquire the territory, softening earlier remarks, and also reversed the proposed 10 per cent tariffs on European allies that had been aimed at pressuring Denmark.

Trump said he had reached a “framework of a deal” on mineral access and security rights with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.