Trump announces an agreement with Denmark to assume the "permanent control of security" of Greenland
The three-party pact includes a veto on enemy countries, according to the US president. Its signing is scheduled during the United Nations General Assembly.
US President Donald Trump announced this Friday on his social media that the United States has reached an agreement with the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenland that "grants" Washington "permanent control over security and other needs in Greenland. Also, that this addresses "ALL" the White House's "numerous concerns."
Beyond the triumphant language, many details were missing in that first post on Truth, in which it was not clear what changes regarding the existing agreement on the Arctic island since 1951 between Washington and Copenhagen. It was also not possible to dispel doubts with the official statements that followed.
Shortly after Trump's message, who returned to the White House with the intention of buying the world's largest island, the office of the Danish Prime Minister published a statement on X, also signed by Greenland, approving the pact. "Greenland, Denmark, and the United States plan to sign an agreement next week that will strengthen security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic area," the text says, explaining that this signing will take place within the framework of the United Nations General Assembly, which is held in New York next week. "Once signed, it must undergo the necessary parliamentary procedures for its entry into force," the statement warns.
Expectation of an agreement on strengthened security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic area pic.twitter.com/qYN1jcRS8m
— Statsministeriet (@Statsmin) September 18, 2026
The agreement comes after months of negotiations between the United States and Denmark about a possible military expansion by the world's first power on the island, an autonomous territory belonging to Denmark. It is expected that the pact will serve to end the threats from the US president to forcibly annex the territory of a NATO member.
The Pentagon, according to what was learned in May, intends to open three new bases, a claim that aligns with the aforementioned defense agreement in force between Washington and Copenhagen. Trump wanted these facilities to be designated as sovereign territory of the United States, a demand to which his counterparts objected.
"This will mean NO COST to the United States! (...) [W]e have worked with representatives of Denmark and Greenland to ensure that the United States has THE TOTAL capacity to do what is necessary in Greenland to secure and defend the security of both Greenland and the United States of America FOREVER," Trump wrote on Truth.
"Infinite" Life
The US president also stated that "no adversary will ever have a military base or presence in Greenland, nor will they make sensitive investments there, without our express written approval." And he defined the "life" of the agreement as "infinite." "We will collaborate with the people of Greenland in their development and construction. This solution is excellent for the United States of America, Denmark, Greenland, and all our allies," the president concluded in his post on Truth.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Prime Minister of Greenland, celebrated, for his part, that the agreement "recognizes the interests" of the island and its "role in international cooperation." "It will benefit us all," he stated.
Citing less definitive language than Trump's, the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, declared: "I am pleased that there is the prospect of a good agreement for Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark, and the United States. An agreement that strengthens our shared security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic region and that, therefore, also benefits NATO and Europe. An agreement that, at the same time, recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom, as well as the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination."
There is already a bilateral defense agreement signed in 1951 and renewed in 2004 that grants the United States privileges to expand its military presence in Greenland. This does not prevent the construction of new bases or the deployment of hundreds or thousands of US soldiers, so one will have to wait to see the content of the new agreement to correctly interpret its novelty and scope.
Greenland is the largest island in the world that does not form a continent: a vast portion of land and ice between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans with a small population (56,000 inhabitants), but rich in natural resources and geostrategic value. It is coveted for its location: the melting of the Arctic promises to open new navigation routes, as well as commercial and naval competition with Moscow that Beijing does not want to be left out of. It also has the desired reserves of rare earth minerals, necessary for the design of the most advanced technology.
Trump already said in 2019, during his first term in the White House, that he was considering the possibility of buying Greenland. He even canceled a State visit to Denmark when the rulers of the Scandinavian country, a founding member of NATO and a member of the European Union, replied that the island is not for sale.