Trump signed Greenland Agreement after diplomatic crisis management

Foreigner's old hit song "I wanna know what love is" thundered in the meeting room at the UN headquarters in New York before the signing of the Greenland agreement, according to Danmarks Radio. Perhaps you could say that Donald Trump wants to know what love is, and now he has found it in the Europe that he otherwise loves to despise.

At the appearance at the United Nations on Tuesday, it sounded as if the American president was reading an advertisement for "Wonderful Copenhagen", so pleased was he with the new cooperation with the wonderful people of Denmark and Greenland.

When he had signed the new agreement on Greenland together with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, kisses on the cheek and pats on the back awaited.

According to Nielsen, the agreement is "win-win-win" – a win for everyone involved.

The US can build new military bases. The countries also agree to oppose foreign powers gaining influence over the Arctic. The agreement applies, even if Greenland becomes an independent state.

Cooperation in the NATO defense alliance is strengthened and thus also the protection of Europe. But the agreement recognizes the sovereignty of the Danish Kingdom and the self-determination of the Greenlandic people.

Greenland is not for sale. It has taken a diplomatic game of the highest order to get Donald Trump to buy that truth.

Mette Frederiksen came out hard last winter, when she stated that "everything ends" if one NATO country attacks another. She built alliances with the leaders of the Nordics and Europe, and got countries like Germany, France and Sweden to send military to the island in the North Atlantic.

The Danish soldiers packed explosives and bags from Danish blood banks, in case of an American attack.

The handling of the Greenland crisis will be studied by international relations experts for years.

The mobilization is one of the explanations why Denmark and Greenland averted the acute crisis. The more low-key diplomacy is another. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was given the ungrateful task of taking Trump down during the acute crisis. Then followed long and protracted negotiations between Denmark, Greenland and the USA.

In recent days, the parties have shown that they are very careful with the American president. Trump was the one who got to present the news about the agreement on the Truth Social platform. He has had to present the settlement as a victory, despite the fact that he got nowhere with the ambition to incorporate Greenland into the United States.

Conflicts may still arise over the interpretation of the agreement. In his speech at the UN, Trump claimed that the US has the right to approve large investments in Greenland in writing. But as the newspaper Politiken points out, the agreement states that it is Denmark and Greenland that are responsible for blocking projects that could pose security policy threats. However, the countries must consult US authorities.

It also remains to be seen how the Greenlandic population will react to the American escalation. Villagers at the old Narsarsuaq airbase fear they will be forced to move.

But right now the politicians are celebrating.

In the end, it's all about timing. Trump was ready to sign. He needed a success, a symbolic hug, after being locked in an expensive and difficult conflict with Iran and losing support at home. Frederiksen and Nielsen opened their arms.