STORY: NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told Fox News on Wednesday (January 21) the issue of whether Greenland will remain with Denmark did not come up in his conversation with President Donald Trump earlier in the day.

Rutte made his comments in an interview on Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier" show.

Earlier in the day, Trump abruptly stepped back from threats to impose tariffs as leverage to seize Greenland, ruled out the use of force, and said a deal was in sight to end a dispute over the Danish territory.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: NATO SECRETARY GENERAL MARK RUTTE DURING INTERVIEW WITH FOX NEWS' BRET BAIER/

SHOWS: UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION & DAVOS, SWITZERLAND (JANUARY 21, 2026)(“FOX NEWS CHANNEL’S SPECIAL REPORT WITH BRET BAIER” - MANDATORY ON-AIR AND ON-SCREEN CREDIT TO “FOX NEWS CHANNEL’S SPECIAL REPORT WITH BRET BAIER”. NO OBSTRUCTION OF FOX BUG. NO MORE THAN TWO MINUTES USE ALLOWED. NO ARCHIVE. NO REUSE. NO RESALE.)

1. (SOUNDBITE)(English) FOX NEWS HOST BRET BAIER, SAYING:

"Is it (Greenland) still under the Kingdom of Denmark in this framework deal?"

2. (SOUNDBITE)(English) NATO SECRETARY GENERAL MARK RUTTE, SAYING:

"That issue did not come up any more in my conversations tonight with the president (Donald Trump). He's very much focused on what do we need to do to make sure that that a huge Arctic region where change is taking place at the moment, where the Chinese and Russians are more and more active, how we can protect it. So that was really the focus of our discussions."

3. BAIER TALKING (NOT A SOUNDBITE)

4. (SOUNDBITE)(English) NATO SECRETARY GENERAL MARK RUTTE, SAYING:

"Well, I think tonight was, was a good night and we have a good agreement to really start working on these issues. And that means that we both agreed. When you look at NATO and what NATO collectively can do to make sure that the whole Arctic region is safe, including Greenland, to work on that part, there's a lot of work to be done to make sure that we do basically everything needed on land, sea and air to make sure that we protect that important part of the world and of NATO territory."

5. (SOUNDBITE)(English) FOX NEWS HOST BRET BAIER, SAYING:

"When you leave today in Davos, you feel optimistic about the situation of Greenland, that you have this framework that you're going to a next step, even though the Kingdom of Denmark is pretty adamant that they're not relinquishing Greenland."

6. (SOUNDBITE)(English) NATO SECRETARY GENERAL MARK RUTTE, SAYING:

"I think what we achieved today in the talks I had with the president is that we agreed that he's right and he's right that collectively we have to protect the Arctic regions, but also, of course, the US continuing its conversations with Greenland and Denmark when it comes to how can we make sure that the Russians and China will not gain access to the economy or military sense of Greenland. I think that was, that was a very good outcome. There's a lot of work to be done, we'll do it step by step. But of course, working fast, but also with thoughtful diplomacy, we will get this done."

7. BAIER SAYING GOODBYE TO RUTTE