No written document memorializes the future deal framework for Greenland, sources say

By Natasha Bertrand, Kevin Liptak, Kylie Atwood, Jim Sciutto, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reached a verbal understanding about Greenland during their meeting on Wednesday, but no document has been produced yet memorializing a future deal, people familiar with their discussion told CNN.

Trump and Rutte agreed to further discussions about updating a 1951 agreement between the US, Denmark and Greenland that governs the US military’s presence on the island, the sources said. The deal framework also guarantees that Russia and China will be barred from any investments in Greenland and lays out an enhanced role for NATO in Greenland, they said.

Two of the sources said another element of a possible deal is increased US access to Greenland’s natural resources, including its mineral reserves. But Rutte on Thursday denied that he had discussed this issue with Trump directly.

The White House said previously that details of the plan would be released as they are finalized, and a spokeswoman repeated that Thursday.

“If this deal goes through, and President Trump is very hopeful it will, the United States will be achieving all of its strategic goals with respect to Greenland, at very little cost, forever. President Trump is proving once again he’s the Dealmaker in Chief. As details are finalized by all parties involved, they will be released accordingly,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.

CNN has reached out to Rutte’s office for comment.

One person familiar with the discussions said Rutte did not want any formal documents prepared during his meeting with Trump because he was concerned they could leak — or be posted by Trump himself on social media. Trump earlier this week posted a private message Rutte sent to him ahead of their talks.

But the lack of any written documentation has caused some confusion among NATO allies about what was actually agreed upon. A document detailing the specific terms of a new deal is expected to be hammered out at the next meeting of the US-Denmark-Greenland working group, which was established last week after Danish and Greenlandic officials met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, two of the sources said. That meeting could happen as soon as next week in Washington, DC, one of the sources said.

NATO officials had also previously floated the idea that Denmark could allow the US to build more military bases in Greenland that would be constructed on land considered sovereign US territory, a NATO official told CNN. But Danish officials said there have been no direct discussions between Denmark and the US about the possibility of granting the US sovereign parcels of land, and a NATO spokesperson said Rutte did not discuss it with Trump on Wednesday.

“NATO is fully aware of the Kingdom of Denmark’s position,” Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement on Thursday. “We can negotiate on everything political; security, investments, economy. But we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty. I have been informed that this has not been the case.”

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