U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States has begun negotiations with European leaders over Greenland and that an agreement is already taking shape.
He made the remarks while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he travelled from Washington to Florida.
“We have started a negotiation,” Trump said in response to questions about contacts with European leaders.
“I think it’s going to be a good deal for everybody, a very important deal actually from a national security point of view,” he added. “I think we’re going to make a deal there.”
Trump said consensus had already been reached on a number of issues and claimed Europe also wanted the United States to conclude an agreement.
On 21 January, after talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump said the outline of a possible Greenland deal had emerged. According to U.S. media reports, a draft discussed would preserve Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland while updating the 1951 defence agreement, potentially allowing the U.S. to establish military bases and so-called “defence zones” if NATO considers it necessary.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen later said Rutte had no mandate to negotiate on Denmark’s behalf and stressed that discussions had returned to traditional diplomatic channels.
Trump’s renewed focus on Greenland has revived strong opposition in Denmark, where many see the territory as an integral part of the Danish realm and reject any suggestion of U.S. control.
Public anger has also been fuelled by separate remarks from Trump last week in which he questioned the extent of European participation in the Afghanistan war, suggesting that allies had largely stayed “off the front lines” while U.S. forces bore the burden of fighting.
Those comments prompted a backlash from European leaders and veterans’ groups, who say they misrepresent the scale of allied sacrifices over two decades of conflict.
Denmark was among the most active combat contributors to the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan. Despite its small population, the country lost 44 service members in the war, giving it one of the highest per-capita casualty rates among coalition partners, comparable to that of the United States.
Against this backdrop, hundreds of people gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen on Saturday (31 January) to show solidarity with Danish veterans and honour the country’s war dead.
Demonstrators planted Danish flags embroidered with the names of fallen soldiers and observed a moment of silence. Many wore medals earned during NATO deployments.
Retired Danish Lieutenant Colonel Niels Christian Koefoed, who served in Afghanistan, said the protest was meant to underline that each casualty represented a human life, not just a statistic.
“Behind every flag there is a person, a soldier, a young man,” he said.
Afghanistan veteran Jesper Larsen said Trump’s remarks were painful for those who fought and lost friends.
“I lost a very close friend and colleague,” Larsen said. “I think he owes all my combat friends an apology.”
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Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is due in Türkiye on Wednesday (11 February) for talks with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as the two NATO allies seek to sustain a fragile thaw after decades of strained relations.
Three people were injured after a gunman opened fire and held students and teachers hostage at a school in Hat Yai district in southern Thailand on Wednesday, police said.
Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation remained severe throughout 2025, with millions still struggling to meet basic needs, according to a new report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The Philippine foreign ministry on Wednesday (11 February) called on the Chinese Embassy in Manila to adopt a “constructive” tone in its statements, amid an intensifying war of words between Chinese diplomats and Philippine officials, including senators.
JD Vance arrived in Armenia on Monday (9 February), becoming the first sitting U.S. Vice President to visit the country, as Yerevan and Washington agreed to cooperate in the civil nuclear sector in a bid to deepen engagement in the South Caucasus.
The United States and Azerbaijan signed a strategic partnership in Baku on Tuesday (10 February) encompassing economic and security cooperation as Washington seeks to expand its influence in a region where Russia was once the main power broker.
António José Seguro’s decisive victory over far-right challenger André Ventura marks an historic moment in Portuguese politics, but analysts caution that the result does not amount to a rejection of populism.
Buckingham Palace said it is ready to support any police investigation into allegations that Prince Andrew shared confidential British trade documents with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as King Charles expressed “profound concern” over the latest revelations.
Chinese authorities have quietly signalled a shift in strategy, instructing some state-owned banks to rein in their purchases of U.S. government bonds.
Three people were injured after a gunman opened fire and held students and teachers hostage at a school in Hat Yai district in southern Thailand on Wednesday, police said.
The Philippine foreign ministry on Wednesday (11 February) called on the Chinese Embassy in Manila to adopt a “constructive” tone in its statements, amid an intensifying war of words between Chinese diplomats and Philippine officials, including senators.
Norway’s Sturla Holm Laegreid, who won bronze in the men’s biathlon at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on Tuesday (10 February) in Italy, stunned viewers by publicly admitting he had cheated on his girlfriend and pleaded for another chance during post-race interviews.
Kyiv is preparing to outline a simultaneous return to the ballot box and a public vote on a potential peace settlement, the Financial Times reports. It would mark a pivotal shift in the country's political landscape on the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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