Trump, speaking after he met NATO chief Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, said little about the purported framework or whether it met his demands of total US control over the Arctic island.
"We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
"Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st," Trump wrote.
The tariffs were set to hit Denmark as well as close US allies including Britain, France and Germany which had sent troops to Greenland in the wake of Trump's threats.
Speaking later to reporters in the hallways of the conference in the Swiss resort of Davos, Trump said that the deal would be in effect "forever."
Asked if the United States would gain sovereignty over the vast but sparsely populated island, Trump hesitated and said, "It's the ultimate long-term deal, and I think it puts everybody in a really good position, especially as it pertains to security, and minerals and everything else."
"It's a deal that people jumped at, really fantastic for the USA, gets everything we wanted," he told reporters.
Speaking separately to CNBC, Trump called it a "concept of a deal."
"It's a little bit complex, but we'll explain it down the line, but the secretary general of NATO and I and some other people were talking and it's the kind of a deal that I wanted to be able to make."
Trump's quest to take Greenland from NATO ally Denmark has deeply shaken the global order and markets.
In a speech earlier Wednesday at the World Economic Forum, Trump for the first time ruled out using force, but demanded "immediate negotiations" to acquire the island from Denmark.
"We probably won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable -- but I won't do that," Trump said in his speech.
"I don't have to use force. I don't want to use force. I won't use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland."
In Davos speech, Trump repeatedly refers to Greenland as 'Iceland'
Davos, Switzerland (AFP) Jan 21, 2026 -
US President Donald Trump repeatedly made an apparent gaffe in a speech Wednesday to world leaders assembled in Switzerland by referring to "Iceland" several times instead of his much coveted "Greenland," with the White House furiously denying any confusion on his part.
The 79-year-old Republican has been clamoring for the United States to acquire Greenland, a large island territory of Denmark, citing what he called security threats from Russia and China in the Arctic Circle.
On Wednesday he announced a "framework" for a future deal on Greenland and the cancellation of planned tariffs on European countries that had opposed his moves to control the island -- but not before ruffling NATO allies and straining transatlantic relations.
"I'm helping NATO, and until the last few days, when I told them about Iceland, they loved me," Trump said during his remarks to the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.
"They're not there for us on Iceland -- that I can tell you. I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland's already cost us a lot of money."
It seemed obvious he was referring to Greenland and not the smaller neighbouring Iceland, an island in the North Atlantic famous for its breathtaking volcanic landscapes.
After the speech, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back against a post on X by a journalist, Libbey Dean, who wrote that "President Trump appeared to mix up Greenland and Iceland around three times."
"No he didn't, Libby. His written remarks referred to Greenland as a 'piece of ice' because that's what it is. You're the only one mixing anything up here," Leavitt fired back on X, misspelling the journalist's name.
During his speech at Davos, Trump, as he often does, frequently strayed from the written script scrolling on the teleprompters.
Asked about the events in Davos, Gavin Newsom, California's Democratic governor and a leading opposition figure in the United States who is considered a potential presidential candidate in 2028, seized on the moment.
"None of this is normal," Newsom said. "There's a normalisation, a deviancy of consciousness."
- Sensitive subject -
The issue of mental acuity is a sensitive one for Trump.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, he attacked incumbent Joe Biden, claiming the Democrat suffered from dementia.
In recent days, some Democratic lawmakers have called for invoking the US Constitution's 25th Amendment, which allows for removing a president who no longer has the physical or intellectual capacity to carry out the duties of office.
The politicians justified their calls by citing a message that Trump had sent to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.
In the message, made public on Monday, Trump expressed his displeasure with not being awarded last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump also reiterated his desire for the US to take control of Greenland.
"Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace," Trump wrote.
However, an independent committee -- not the Norwegian government -- is the body that awards the peace prize and other Nobel prizes at an annual ceremony in Oslo.
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