The United States plans to establish two military sites in Greenland under an agreement that President Donald Trump says gives Washington permanent responsibility for the territory’s security.
Trump is expected to sign the accord with Danish and Greenlandic leaders at the United Nations General Assembly. The agreement is intended to outline the expansion of the US military presence across Greenland.
“I’m looking forward to the meeting tomorrow. I think we have reached a good agreement,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told TV2 Denmark.
The proposed arrangement would see the US revive a former Cold War base in southern Greenland and establish a second facility on the east coast, at a location currently used by Denmark’s dog-sled patrol.
The sites are Narsarsuaq, where only a few dozen residents remain after the US shut its Bluie West One base in the 1950s, and Mestersvig, a remote military outpost occupied by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish special forces unit.
The agreement has not been released publicly. Three people familiar with the negotiations, who spoke anonymously, said its terms will not be finalized until the document is signed.
The governments of Denmark and Greenland did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
A White House spokesperson also declined to discuss the details, referring instead to an earlier statement that Tuesday’s signing would “secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States.”
According to Denmark, the agreement places Arctic security within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, rather than leaving responsibility solely with Washington and Copenhagen.
The United States plans two new military sites in Greenland under an agreement Trump says grants Washington permanent control over the territory’s security
Mestersvig military outpost in Greenland, where the United States plans to establish a new facility
The agreement follows months of pressure from Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants the United States to control Greenland. At various points, he has refused to rule out using military or economic force to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
Polling indicates that an overwhelming majority of Greenlanders oppose the proposal.
Trump’s threats, which intensified in January, sparked a diplomatic crisis within NATO. They also prompted Denmark and Greenland to begin talks with Washington in an effort to ease the pressure.
During the Cold War, the United States operated 17 military installations in Greenland and stationed more than 10,000 personnel there.
Today, only Pituffik Space Base remains, with approximately 150 US military personnel stationed at the site.
The agreement does not change Greenland’s status as Danish territory.
Trump said Friday that the United States had reached an agreement with Denmark granting Washington “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many US concerns.”
It remained unclear what the president meant by “all other needs.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen described the agreement with Trump as a “good agreement”
The deal follows months of pressure from Trump, who has long said he wants the US to control Greenland and has at times refused to rule out military or economic force to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory
‘At my direction, we worked with representatives of Denmark and Greenland to guarantee that the United States will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States of America,’ Trump wrote, calling it an ‘infinite life’ agreement.
‘Additionally, from now on, no US adversary can EVER have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval,’ he claimed.
The US will now ‘immediately begin the process of developing a large Military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland, of which there are many’ and will work with the people of Greenland in its development and construction.
It will allegedly not cost the US anything, Trump insisted, as a senior official told Fox News the deal would even remain in effect if Greenland were to ever become an independent country.
‘This solution is a great one for the United States of America, Denmark, Greenland, and all of our Allies,’ he wrote.
‘We look forward to working with the wonderful people of Denmark and Greenland toward a magnificent future with respect to this large, and highly strategic, parcel of land,’ the president continued. ‘We will be very protective of it!’
‘This is a dream come true for the United States of America, one that is very important, historic, and special,’ he concluded.
Greenland and Denmark’s parliaments will also have to approve it, their governments said in a joint statement.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and the Faroe Islands’ Prime Minister Beinir Johannesen are pictured on the island
Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance tour a US military base in Greenland in March last year. Their tour came amid the President’s push to acquire the island
‘It is gratifying that we are about to enter into an agreement that ensures and strengthens the security of Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark, the United States and the Western alliance,’ Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said.
‘The agreement recognizes Greenland’s interests and our place in international cooperation. It is to the benefit of us all,’ he insisted.
Frederiksen also said the agreement ‘recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination’.
Under the deal, Denmark and Greenland would no longer have to approve any new US military installations on the island, according to Fox News.
But the deal only allows the US and its allies to make ‘sensitive investments’ on the territory, including telecommunications infrastructure, undersea capabilities, ports and critical minerals.
The deal also falls short of ceding control of the territory to the US.
Trump framed his push to acquire the island as a national security imperative, citing Greenland’s strategic position in the Arctic and China’s and Russia’s ambitions to expand their presence in the region.
Northern Command boss General Gregory M Guillot has noted how Greenland could host part of an array of radar stations in the Arctic that includes outposts in Alaska and Canada.
People protest against Trump’s policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland in January
Two groups from the Poseidon Expeditions tour company look at a glacier in the Scoresby Sund, September 7, 2023, in Greenland
He has also said that the US seeks a deepwater port and a base for US special forces on the island.
Trump first floated the idea of bringing Greenland into the US sphere of influence during his first term in 2019.
Since returning to the office, he has repeatedly doubled down on that.
But at first, officials in Greenland and Denmark, which holds sovereignty over the self-governing territory, scoffed at Trump’s insistence that the US must ‘own’ Greenland as the president threatened that US forces could be used to take control of the island.
Still, representatives from Denmark and Greenland agreed to sit down with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House adviser Stephen Miller and officials at the State Department and National Security Council.
The months-long closed-door negotiations focused on allowing American troops to stay on the island indefinitely, co-operation on extracting the island’s rich natural resources like rare earths and oil and the possible re-opening of a Second World War-era US military base on the southern coast.
Eventually, officials in Denmark and Greenland came to see the agreement as serving their own security interests, and the three parties reached a deal that satisfied all sides, a source familiar with the negotiations told Fox.
‘They recognize at the end of the day that they have a national security concern here as well,’ Rubio explained to the outlet.
‘Denmark and Greenland understand that they don’t have the financial means necessary to defend Greenland if it were to come under attack or be threatened. The United States has the power to do that.’
Rubio also commended the president for reaching the agreement.
‘This historic deal is a huge win for the United States and the American people,’ he said in a statement to Our News Outlet.
‘Thanks to President Trump’s vision and leadership, this historic agreement permanently guarantees US security interests in the Arctic at zero cost to the US taxpayer,’ Rubio noted.
