Trump to Sign National Security Deal With Greenland, Denmark

President Donald Trump is to sign a deal with the leaders of Greenland and Denmark that will allow a larger U.S. military presence in the key Arctic territory.ic

Trump will meet Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen at the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday morning for the signing ceremony.

In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump said the agreement would give the United States “permanent control over security” in Greenland.

“At my direction, we worked with representatives of Denmark and Greenland to guarantee that the United States will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland, and the United States of America,” Trump wrote.

On Saturday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in a statement posted to social media that this would be a good week for Greenland, a semiautonomous territory, and the kingdom of Denmark.

End of ‘Time of Uncertainty’

“A time of uncertainty will hopefully give way to a binding agreement that strengthens security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic—and thereby our shared security within NATO and Europe—while respecting the Kingdom’s red lines,” he said.

The United States currently has military forces stationed at Pituffik Space Base in the northwest of the territory.

The text of the agreement has not been published, and it remains unclear whether it will be an amendment to the 1951 defense treaty, which is the legal basis for the U.S. military presence, or an entirely new framework. The 1951 treaty was last amended in 2004.

Greenland, which was conquered by Denmark in the 18th century and only became self-governing in 2009, lies between Scandinavia and North America and is known to have significant mineral resources.

It is three times the size of Texas but has only 57,000 inhabitants, most of whom live along the coast.

During the Cold War, the United States maintained 17 installations and had more than 10,000 personnel on Greenland to counter the Soviet threat, but there was a significant drawdown in the 1990s and 2000s.

Greenland straddles key sea lanes, including trans-Arctic shipping corridors, and is rich in critical minerals and rare earths.

The Danish government has promised to beef up its military capabilities in Greenland, but this has not satisfied the Trump administration.

Trump’s Tariffs Threat

In January, Trump threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff on eight European countries that oppose U.S. efforts to acquire Greenland.

Denmark is a member of NATO, and at a press conference at the alliance’s summit in the Turkish capital of Ankara on July 7, Trump voiced his disappointment with the alliance over the Greenland issue.

The following day, Frederiksen said Greenland was “not for sale.”

“We are ready to defend every inch of NATO, including our own territory. … Of course, we will defend the kingdom of Denmark,” Frederiksen said.

Reuters contributed to this report.