President Donald Trump has secured what he describes as a “permanent” US security foothold in Greenland under a new agreement allowing Washington to establish additional military bases across the strategically important Arctic island.
The arrangement expands on the existing US presence at Pituffik Space Base, a key installation supporting American missile-warning and space surveillance systems. It would permit the Pentagon to develop further sites across Greenland’s remote and unforgiving terrain.
Signed Tuesday with Danish officials, the agreement also prevents other countries—particularly Russia and China—from setting up military bases on Greenland. Both nations have sought to strengthen their position and influence in the Arctic.
For Trump, the deal represents a compromise after years of openly advocating US ownership of Greenland. He has previously floated buying the island, annexing it or even using military force to bring it under American control.
Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark and occupies a pivotal position in US defense planning. Its location in the North Atlantic places it near a crucial Arctic passage where Russian and Chinese vessels have been increasingly observed.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen joined Trump at the signing ceremony.
“So this is tremendous for Europe and for the United States, for everybody, and for Greenland,” Trump said, describing the agreement as the foundation of a “long-term, fantastic relationship.”
Nielsen underscored the shared security commitment, telling Trump after the signing: “Our security is your security.”
President Donald Trump marked the new Greenland-Denmark security agreement during a signing ceremony held alongside the UN General Assembly meeting Tuesday
The agreement gives the US authority to develop additional military installations in Greenland, strengthening the Pentagon’s Arctic presence
New US installations under the agreement would provide NATO with a stronger platform for monitoring and responding to activity across the Arctic.
Trump first revealed the agreement in a social media post last week.
At the time, he said the deal granted the United States “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland,” claiming it addressed “ALL of our many US concerns.”
“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. He characterized the arrangement as an agreement with an “infinite life.”
Trump also asserted that no US adversary would be able to establish a base, maintain a military presence or make sensitive investments in Greenland without Washington’s explicit written approval.
However, the agreement stops short of transferring sovereignty over Greenland to the United States, despite Trump’s past threats to seize the territory.
“No, I never take military force off the table,” Trump told NBC News in a 2025 interview when asked about acquiring the island. “But I think there’s a good possibility that we could do it without military force.”
Trump has presented his campaign to acquire Greenland as a matter of national security, pointing to the island’s Arctic location and the efforts by China and Russia to expand their regional military and commercial reach.
General Gregory M. Guillot, who leads US Northern Command, has said Greenland could host part of a wider Arctic radar network linking American installations in Alaska and Canada.
He has also said the United States is interested in developing a deepwater port and a base for US special operations forces on the island.
Trump first floated the idea of bringing Greenland into the US sphere of influence during his first term in 2019.
