US President Donald Trump has announced an agreement with Denmark and Greenland that he says gives the United States permanent control over security and other security-related needs in Greenland, marking a major development in Washington’s long-running efforts to strengthen its strategic position in the Arctic.
Trump made the announcement on Friday, September 18, in a statement in which he described the agreement as an “Infinite Life” deal with no end date. He said the agreement would give the United States the ability to do what is necessary to secure and defend Greenland as well as US national security interests.
According to Trump, the agreement would also prevent US adversaries from establishing military bases or maintaining a military presence in Greenland, while restricting sensitive investments by those countries without US approval. He said Washington would immediately begin the process of developing a larger US military presence at appropriate locations across the Arctic territory.
“We will immediately begin the process of developing a large Military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland,” Trump said, describing the agreement as a historic development for the United States, Denmark, Greenland and their allies.
However, the announcement does not amount to the United States taking ownership of Greenland. Greenland remains a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, and Danish and Greenlandic officials have stressed that the agreement recognises Denmark’s sovereignty and Greenlanders’ right to self-determination.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the agreement strengthens common security in the Arctic and North Atlantic while recognising “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination.” Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen also said the agreement recognises Greenland’s interests and strengthens its security.
The full details of the agreement have not yet been made public, and officials in Denmark and Greenland have described it more cautiously than Trump did. The agreement is expected to be formally signed during the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week and will still have to go through the necessary parliamentary procedures in Denmark and Greenland before it can take effect.
The deal follows months of tensions over Trump’s repeated calls for the United States to take control of Greenland. The president has argued that the island is strategically important to US national security because of its location in the Arctic and concerns about the activities of countries such as Russia and China.
The United States already maintains a military presence in Greenland through Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base. The new agreement is expected to provide a framework for expanding that presence and ensuring continued US military access even if Greenland’s political status changes in the future.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the agreement as permanently addressing Washington’s national security concerns in Greenland, while Danish and Greenlandic officials have emphasised that the arrangement does not transfer sovereignty to the United States.
Trump, meanwhile, celebrated the agreement as a major achievement, saying it was a “dream come true” for the United States and that the country would be “very protective” of Greenland.
The agreement now faces the next stage of formalisation, with its precise provisions, legal status and implementation expected to become clearer when the full text is signed and submitted for parliamentary approval.