UNITED NATIONS — President Donald Trump has signed an agreement with Denmark and Greenland aimed at strengthening Arctic and North Atlantic security, easing tensions over his repeated calls for Greenland to become part of the United States.
The signing Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York comes days after Trump announced the deal to bolster U.S. military presence on the vast, icy island but keep it under Danish control.
“This is tremendous for Europe and for the United States and for everybody,” Trump said just before the agreement was signed. “And for Greenland, it's going to be incredible.”
For months, Trump has expressed his desire for Greenland to become part of the United States and issued threats to seize the semiautonomous territory from Denmark, a NATO ally. On Tuesday, he did not respond to questions about whether a U.S. acquisition of Greenland was off the table.
The US has had a presence in Greenland for many years
Officials from the U.S., Greenland and Denmark negotiated for months behind the scenes, searching for solutions to address some of Trump’s security concerns about the mineral-rich island.
Trump's designs on Greenland strained relations within NATO, with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warning a U.S. takeover would amount to the end of the Atlantic alliance.
The standoff unsettled many of Greenland's roughly 56,000 people and drove a wedge between the U.S. and Denmark and its European Union partners, who stepped up security exercises on and monetary support for the island.
Trade and hopes for a resource grab have all factored into concerns about Greenland's future: About two-thirds of its territory sits inside the Arctic Circle, where melting sea ice has opened additional shipping routes
The United States was prominent in Greenland for decades but, since 1945, the U.S. military presence in Greenland has decreased from thousands of soldiers on 17 bases and installations to roughly 200 soldiers on the remote Pituffik Space Base in the northwest. The base supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday morning, Trump provided a window into details of the deal.
“We will immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations,” he said, including “building two very major military bases.”
Denmark's parliament approved a bill last year to allow U.S. military bases on Danish soil, widening a 2023 military agreement made with the Biden administration that gave U.S. troops broad access to air bases in Denmark.
Trump previously insisted the U.S. needed to "take Greenland," to prevent Russia or China from doing the same. Though Trump said he would rather " make a deal " for the territory, he added: "one way or the other, we're going to have Greenland."
More US bases in an accord that would survive Greenland's independence
The agreement, released by the Danish government after the signing, allows for Washington to “modernize and expand” its activities at the Pituffik Space Base in northwest Greenland.
It also says the U.S. can set up “defense areas” at Narsarsuaq in the south and Mestersvig in the east, and that it “may establish additional defense areas in Greenland and strengthen its military operations or facilities.” Washington is to award contracts for goods and services related to setting up, maintaining or dismantling such bases “to Greenlandic sources to the maximum extent possible.”
The accord calls for wide U.S. military mobility on Greenland’s territory, including “undersea access.”
No non-NATO country will be allowed to set up “its own manned or unmanned military installations in Greenland,” or to have a “persistent” military presence unless the signatories agree otherwise.
The accord “does not have an end date,” and if Greenland chooses to become independent, it will agree to remain in NATO and take on Denmark’s rights and obligations under the deal.
All parties present the agreement as a positive move
Mikkel Runge Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute of International Studies, said Greenland and Denmark come away from the deal with the possibility of “ending the crisis without compromising on sovereignty,” while the U.S. gets a “somewhat more favorable” deal than under the existing defense treaty.
But relations overall between the U.S., Denmark and Greenland “are likely to be haunted by this long after Trump leaves office, and the crisis is likely to have significant and lasting negative impact on transatlantic relations more generally,” he said. “The lost trust will take decades to rebuild.”
Frederiksen said Tuesday called the agreement a “deal that can last forever,” labeling it as good for the U.S., Greenland, Denmark and the broader NATO alliance.
“Mr. President, you have been very clear: You don’t want adversaries to come too close,” she said. “I fully agree.”
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland’s prime minister, called it “a win-win-win agreement.”
“Your security is our security,” he said, “and our security is your security.”
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Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim in Washington and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
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