Rutte to the Rescue?
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte may be Donald Trump’s favourite European, after Giorgia Meloni, Viktor Orbán, and Vladimir Putin. Now that Trump has backed off his additional tariff threat against eight NATO nations over Greenland and said the framework of a future deal has been discussed, Rutte’s role at Davos in buying this respite can’t be underestimated.
Trump didn’t come out with details but he has dismissed military action to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory (that he mistakenly called “Iceland” at least four times in his long speech). And yet, anything short of not buying or annexing Greenland might be hard to sell to MAGA as a victory. Minerals are certainly involved and, of course, the 1951 Defense of Greenland Agreement always allowed the US to do most of the things Trump wants to. Regardless of the shape a new deal would take, Trump’s tone mellowed after seeing the man he calls a good guy. While Europe supposedly junked its “softly, softly” approach to Trump last weekend, Rutte’s assurance that European NATO allies would come to the US’ aid if the latter were attacked might have sounded pathetic but was an instance of copybook diplomacy. Sometimes, that works with Trump too.