The United States and Denmark have announced a security agreement over Greenland, ending months of diplomatic turmoil triggered by President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to seize the semi-autonomous Danish territory by force.
The deal, expected to be signed during the UN General Assembly next week, would allow the US to develop what Trump described as a large military presence in Greenland. No official text has been released. Trump said on Truth Social that the agreement grants the US permanent control over security and all other needs in the territory, at no cost to the United States.
Denmark and Greenland moved quickly to frame the agreement differently. In a joint statement, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said the deal strengthens common security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic while recognising the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination. Nielsen said on Facebook that the agreement recognises Greenland’s interests and its place in international co-operation.
Nato welcomed the agreement. A spokesperson for the alliance said it would help advance security, stability and cooperation in a vital region, adding that the Arctic and the North Atlantic are essential for collective security.
What the deal reportedly includes
An unnamed US State Department official outlined provisions of the agreement without providing specifics, according to the BBC. Among the agreed terms is a clause stating the deal would not expire even if Greenland became an independent country in the future. The official said the US would have unilateral power to build additional military structures with no approval needed from Greenland or Denmark, along with permanent access, basing and overflight rights.
The agreement also prohibits US adversaries from building their own bases on the island and blocks adversaries from making investments in sensitive sectors that could threaten the United States. The official specifically referenced Russia and China, saying the deal prevents them from deploying troops or investing in sensitive areas. Under the current status quo, the official said, adversaries have been allowed to invest in Greenland’s sensitive sectors without investment screening.
Trump said the deal includes a rule that no US adversary could maintain a military presence in Greenland or make sensitive investments without express written American approval. He said the agreement addresses all of the many US concerns.
Without the official text being released, it remains unclear how the deal differs from a 1951 agreement with Denmark, under which the US can send as many troops as it wants to Greenland. The US still maintains a reduced military presence at the Pituffik space base, formerly known as Thule, on the island to monitor for missiles.
Sovereignty red lines and lingering scepticism
Trump had tried for months to purchase or annex Greenland, arguing the territory was vulnerable to adversaries and citing its strategic location for defence and its vast, largely untapped reserves of rare earth minerals. His repeated demands earlier this year prompted an outcry from Greenlanders, Danes and other Nato members. In January, European member nations sent military personnel to Greenland to demonstrate readiness, and eight European allies issued a joint statement confirming their commitment to Arctic security, according to The Guardian.
The deal as described in Trump’s post appears to stop short of his prior insistence that Greenland must be made part of the United States. Greenland has maintained it is not for sale, and the European Union earlier this year united to rebuke Trump over his push to acquire the island. The US president has made no mention of any territory changing hands.
Some Danish media interpreted the agreement as a quiet but significant triumph for the country’s diplomacy. The newspaper Berlingske ran a headline reading, Don’t tell Trump that it’s the Kingdom of Denmark that has won. A US correspondent for Politiken wrote that Trump did not get Greenland but was allowed to take a victory lap on social media.
In Greenland, reactions were cautious. MP Naaja Nathanielsen wrote on social media that the news was something everyone had been hoping for, but added that it is absolutely crucial any agreement preserves the right to self-determination. Former Greenlandic politician Aaja Chemnitz said she looked forward to the deal being finalised but remained sceptical, saying she did not have much confidence in Trump.
Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, a political science professor at the University of Copenhagen, told Reuters that the deal is probably not the end of Trump’s ambitions for Greenland and certainly not the end of US strategic interest in the territory and its resources. He added that if Copenhagen cedes any formal power to Washington over Greenland, which it has held for 1,000 years, it would raise questions for Greenlanders about whether this is the beginning of replacing the colonial relationship with Denmark with a colonial relationship to the United States.
Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, struck an optimistic tone on Facebook, saying a time of uncertainty will hopefully give way to a binding agreement that strengthens security while respecting the Danish kingdom’s red lines. The agreement will still need to go through necessary parliamentary procedures to enter into force once signed, the joint statement noted. Key details remain undisclosed, including the degree of the US military presence and whether any formal power over foreign policy and resources would be ceded to Washington.