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US, Denmark Reach Greenland Security Deal
Confirmed
In Short: The US and Denmark have reached a security agreement over Greenland, resolving a diplomatic dispute sparked by Trump's annexation threats.
US President Donald Trump and Danish officials have reached an agreement on Greenland's security, resolving a diplomatic dispute that began with Trump's threats to seize the territory.
The deal, announced by Trump, grants the US 'permanent control' over Greenland's security and bars Russian and Chinese bases from the Arctic territory.
Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, welcomed the agreement, with Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen stating it 'strengthens' the territory's security.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the deal would replace a period of uncertainty with a 'binding agreement' that strengthens security in the Arctic and North Atlantic.
The agreement is expected to be signed on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week.
While Trump hailed the deal as an 'Infinite Life' Agreement, stating the US would immediately start building up a large military presence in the territory, Danish commentators noted that Washington was already able to ramp up its military presence under a 1951 defence pact.
Ulrik Pram Gad, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, said Trump 'obviously didn't get in this agreement what he originally set out to have, that is, sovereign control over all of Greenland as a part of the United States.
The deal respects Denmark's 'red lines' and is 'important' in light of a changed security situation, according to Rasmussen.
NATO welcomed the deal, saying it would help advance security, stability, and cooperation in the Arctic region.
In Greenland's capital, Nuuk, residents had mixed feelings about the deal. A 29-year-old hairdresser, Soren Kreutzmann, expressed discomfort with the attention Greenland has received, while a 64-year-old educator, Bibbi Kleist Jepsen, hoped the leaders had made a good agreement.
The deal's details remain unclear, but Denmark maintains that its sovereignty remains intact, and the agreement respects its 'red lines.
Background
US President Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States has reached an agreement with Denmark and Greenland, granting the US permanent control over Greenland's security and other needs.
The US and Denmark have reached a security agreement over Greenland, resolving a diplomatic dispute sparked by Trump's annexation threats.
Denmark is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark, also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland in the north Atlantic Ocean.
What's confirmed
- "I don't know exactly what the agreement is or what has been signed. But whenever the US and Trump are mentioned, I have mixed feelings. I'm not entirely comfortable with how much attention Greenland has right now," Soren Kreutzmann, a 29-year-old hairdresser, told AFP.
- "We hope the leaders have made a good agreement, because our country needs to be protected, both from the air and sea. Denmark had not given that enough attention for many years," said Bibbi Kleist Jepsen, a 64-year-old educator.
- "This agreement guarantees that China and Russia cannot have a base in Greenland, they cannot send troops to Greenland, and the necessary mechanisms are in place to prevent investment in sensitive sectors," a State Department official said.
- Denmark on Saturday hailed a "binding" deal announced by US President Donald Trump to give Washington "permanent control" over Greenland's security and bar Russian and Chinese bases from the Arctic territory.
- Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has repeatedly insisted that the United States needed to control Greenland for strategic reasons, alarming NATO ally Denmark and sparking fierce pushback from the alliance.
- Denmark and Greenland -- an autonomous Danish territory -- both hailed the agreement and said they would sign it on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week.
- "A long period of uncertainty will hopefully be replaced by a binding agreement that strengthens security in the Arctic and North Atlantic," Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on social media.
- Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said the deal "recognises Greenland's interests" and "strengthens" its security.
- “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 said.
What's still developing
- "Shhh. Don't tell Trump that it's the Kingdom of Denmark that has prevailed," US correspondent Jacob Heinel Jensen wrote in Danish newspaper Berlingske on Saturday.
- Gad noted that while Russia had little interest in Greenland, China was investing in extractive industries to get a foothold in the Arctic.
- Cautioning that the deal's details remained unknown, Gad said the worry is how "exclusive access" for the US to build bases in Greenland would affect NATO allies from Europe.
- Several media outlets have reported that Washington wants to open three new military bases in southern Greenland, in addition to the Pituffik base it already has in the territory's north.
- In an apparent move to assuage Trump, NATO launched a mission to bolster security in the Arctic.
- Trump has wanted a foothold in Greenland for some time, as a strategic battle unfolds for supremacy in a warming Arctic.
- This comes after months of threats by Trump to "take" Greenland over national security concerns, citing its strategic location for defence purposes and its mineral wealth. No text of the agreement has been released. Trump said the deal came with "no cost to the United States" and would grant it the ability "to do what is necessary" to "secure and defend the security of Greenland", in a post on Truth Social.