The United States, Denmark and Greenland have reached an agreement that would sharply expand Washington’s military and security role on the strategically important Arctic island, while stopping short of President Donald Trump’s previous push to bring Greenland under US sovereignty.
Trump announced the agreement late Friday, saying it would give the United States what he described as “permanent control” over Greenland’s security requirements and allow Washington to prevent adversaries from establishing military bases or making sensitive investments on the island.
The Danish government, however, framed the agreement differently, stressing that it preserves the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenlanders’ right to determine their own future.
Denmark’s prime minister’s office said the three governments expect to formally sign the agreement next week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The deal will then have to go through the necessary parliamentary procedures before entering into force.
The full text of the agreement has not yet been released.
US granted expanded military rights
According to Reuters, the agreement will allow the United States to significantly increase its military presence in Greenland and provides Washington with permanent access, basing and overflight rights.
A US State Department official told Reuters that the arrangement would prohibit non-NATO countries from establishing military bases on Greenland and restrict sensitive investments to the United States and its allies.
The official said the agreement was intended to remain in force even if Greenland eventually becomes fully independent from Denmark.
Trump said Washington would soon begin developing what he described as a major additional US military presence on the island, although neither the number of troops nor possible locations of new facilities have been disclosed.
It also remains unclear whether entirely new American bases will be constructed.
Trump said the agreement would have no expiration date and claimed it would impose no cost on the United States. Those details cannot yet be independently assessed because the final agreement has not been published.
“From now on, no U.S. 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,” Trump said in announcing the deal.
Denmark says sovereignty remains unchanged
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen welcomed the emerging agreement but emphasized that it does not transfer sovereignty over Greenland to Washington.
Frederiksen said the agreement would strengthen common security in the Arctic and North Atlantic and would benefit NATO and Europe while recognising “the Kingdom’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination.”
Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen also backed the agreement, saying it recognised Greenland’s interests and place in international cooperation and strengthened the security of Greenland, Denmark, the United States and the wider Western alliance.
That distinction is significant. Trump has characterised the agreement as giving Washington permanent control over Greenlandic security, while Copenhagen and Nuuk have so far described it as a defence and security arrangement that leaves political sovereignty unchanged.
Deal falls short of Trump’s earlier acquisition plans
The agreement marks a major shift from months of tension over Trump’s repeated demands for US control or ownership of Greenland.
After returning to the White House, Trump argued that the vast Arctic territory was essential to US national security and repeatedly pressed Denmark over its status.
Denmark and Greenland rejected the idea that the island could be sold, while European governments publicly backed Copenhagen’s sovereignty and said Greenland’s future could only be decided by Denmark and Greenland.
The new agreement therefore appears to give Washington much of the military access it sought without transferring ownership of the island.
The United States already enjoys extensive military access under a 1951 defence agreement with Denmark. Reuters reported that Washington has broad existing overflight and basing rights in Greenland.
Its principal installation is Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, formerly known as Thule Air Base.
The base is a critical part of the North American early-warning network. US Space Force units there operate radar systems designed to detect intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles while also tracking objects in space.
China, Russia and Golden Dome
Washington has increasingly viewed Greenland through the wider strategic competition in the Arctic, where the United States and its NATO allies are seeking to counter potential Russian and Chinese military and economic influence.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the new arrangement permanently addressed Washington’s security concerns and would ensure Greenland remained part of North America’s strategic defence area while excluding adversaries.
The agreement specifically bars non-NATO military bases and restricts sensitive investments by countries considered US adversaries, according to US officials.
The security negotiations have also been linked to Trump’s planned Golden Dome missile-defence system.
Before the agreement was announced, people familiar with the negotiations told Reuters that the parties had discussed allowing Greenlandic territory to be used as part of the Golden Dome network, alongside measures designed to limit Chinese influence on the island.
It has not yet been confirmed whether those provisions appear in the final agreement.
Greenland’s geographic position between North America and Europe, combined with its location along increasingly important Arctic approaches, makes it particularly valuable for missile detection, air and maritime surveillance and space operations.
The island also possesses significant mineral resources, adding an economic dimension to growing US, European and Chinese interest in the Arctic.
Formal signing still ahead
Despite Trump announcing that an agreement had been reached, the deal is not yet legally in force.
The Danish government says Denmark, Greenland and the United States are expected to sign the agreement during next week’s UN General Assembly before completing the required parliamentary processes.
That means the precise scope of Washington’s new powers — particularly what Trump means by “permanent control,” which investments would require US approval and how future American bases would operate — should become clearer once the agreement itself is released.
For now, the emerging settlement represents a compromise between the positions that dominated the Greenland dispute earlier this year: Greenland remains under Danish sovereignty with its right to self-determination intact, while the United States receives a substantially expanded and potentially permanent military and security role on the island.
