A deal after months of threats
The United States and Denmark announced a security agreement on Friday that resolves a diplomatic dispute triggered by President Donald Trump's threats to seize Greenland by force. Trump said the deal gives his country permanent control over security and all other needs of the Danish territory. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the agreement will strengthen security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic, though she did not address the specific details Trump mentioned in a social media post.[S1]
The agreement follows months of threats by Trump to take Greenland for national security reasons, citing its strategic location for defense and its mineral wealth. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the deal will cost the United States nothing and will give the country the ability to do what is necessary to guarantee and defend Greenland's security. He said the agreement stipulates that no US adversary will be able to maintain a military presence in Greenland or make sensitive investments there without express written approval from the White House.[S1]
Frederiksen confirmed that the agreement will be signed during the United Nations General Assembly next week. She said it strengthens common security in the Arctic and North Atlantic while recognizing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination. She added that the agreement still requires legislative approval and must follow the necessary parliamentary procedures to enter into force.[S1]
US military presence and strategic interests
Trump has tried for months to buy or annex the mineral-rich Danish territory. He has even threatened military action, drawing strong criticism from Danes and other NATO countries. Jens-Frederik Nielsen, a representative of Greenland's government, said upon announcing the deal that it is gratifying to be about to close a pact that guarantees and strengthens the security of Greenland, Denmark and the US. He said the agreement recognizes Greenland's interests and its role in international cooperation and is beneficial for all.[S1]
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it a historic agreement and a great victory for the US and the American people. He told Fox News that the deal permanently and completely addresses US national security concerns in Greenland. The text of the agreement has not been published yet. However, a US State Department official who asked not to be identified described the terms without going into specific details.[S1]
Among the agreed provisions is one stating that the agreement would not lose its validity even if Greenland became an independent country in the future. The official added that under the deal, the US has the unilateral authority to build additional military structures without needing approval from Greenland or Denmark. The pact includes permanent access rights, base establishment and overflight, the official said. It also prohibits non-NATO countries from building bases in Greenland and bans adversary investments in Greenland that could pose a threat to the US.[S1]
Sensitive sectors and existing US bases
The source added that under the current situation, adversaries have been allowed to invest in sensitive sectors of Greenland without being subject to investment controls. The official specifically mentioned Russia and China, saying the agreement prevents them from deploying troops or making investments in those sensitive sectors. Since the text is not public, it is not clear exactly how it differs from a 1951 pact between the US and Denmark under which Washington can send as many troops to Greenland as it wants.[S1]
The US already has more than 100 military personnel permanently stationed at its Pituffik base, located at the northwestern tip of the territory. Pituffik has played a key role for decades in the US early warning system for detecting missile attacks. In this remote corner of the Arctic region, about 1,200 kilometers from the North Pole, the northernmost US base in the world has stood since the early Cold War, originally conceived to detect possible missile attacks from the former Soviet Union in time and enable a prompt response.[S1]
Formerly called John Thule Base, the facility is run by the 821st Space Base Group, which includes the 12th Space Warning Squadron and the 23rd Space Operations Detachment. Its mission is to monitor space, warn of possible missile attacks and control US defense satellites. Trump argues that Greenland is fundamental to his plan to build a defense system called Golden Dome, designed to protect the US from missile attacks from Russia and China, and he maintains that European allies could collaborate in this initiative. The island has vast, largely untapped reserves of rare earth minerals, many of which are crucial for technologies such as cell phones and electric vehicles.[S1]
