The United States and Denmark have reached a landmark agreement on Greenland, ending a tense diplomatic standoff sparked by President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to take the territory by force.
Announcing the deal on Truth Social, Trump said it gives Washington “permanent control over security, and all other needs” in Greenland and comes at “no cost to the United States.” He added that under the agreement, no US adversary may maintain a military presence or make sensitive investments in Greenland without express written American approval.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen confirmed the deal will be signed at the UN General Assembly next week. She said it “strengthens our common security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic area” while recognising the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination. The agreement still requires parliamentary approval, she noted.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Chairman of the Greenland Government, called the deal “gratifying,” saying it “recognises Greenland’s interests and our place in international co-operation. It is for the benefit of us all.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the agreement as a “historic deal” and a “huge win for the United States and the American people,” saying it “permanently and completely addresses our national security concerns in Greenland.”
According to an unnamed State Department official, the deal grants the US unilateral power to build additional military structures without approval from Greenland or Denmark, along with “permanent access, basing and overflights rights.” It also bans non-NATO countries from building bases on the island and blocks adversaries from investing in sensitive sectors. The provisions would reportedly survive even if Greenland becomes independent.
No official text has been released, leaving it unclear how the agreement differs from a 1951 treaty that already allows the US to station as many troops as it wants on the island. More than 100 US military personnel are permanently based at Pituffik in north-western Greenland.
Trump has long argued that Greenland is vital to US national security both for its strategic location and its vast, largely untapped reserves of rare earth minerals and essential to his proposed “Golden Dome” missile defence system.
