Trump, Denmark and Greenland to sign agreement expanding U.S. military sites
U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Danish and Greenlandic leaders in New York to sign a deal that adds two new U.S. military installations on Greenland, aiming to strengthen Arctic security under NATO oversight.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on Tuesday in New York for a trilateral signing ceremony that will broaden the United States' military footprint on the island. The agreement is expected to add two sites – the former Cold War airbase at Narsarsuaq and the Mestersvig facility used by a Danish special-forces patrol – to the existing Pituffik Space Base.
Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, lies between the Arctic and North America and is rich in energy resources. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the pact will place Arctic security under NATO's collective watch rather than leaving it solely to Washington and Copenhagen.
"The reason why we can conclude this agreement, which is beneficial from Greenlandic, American, and European perspectives, as well as on behalf of the Kingdom of Denmark, is that it is a matter of security policy," Frederiksen said in New York.
Trump has described the deal as giving the United States "permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland," while Denmark has emphasized that the arrangement respects the kingdom's sovereignty and Greenland's right to self-determination. The text of the agreement has not been released, and it is unclear whether it amends the 1951 defence treaty that currently underpins the U.S. presence or establishes a new framework.
The signing marks a shift from earlier proposals for a full acquisition of Greenland and represents the first major expansion of U.S. military infrastructure on the island since the Cold War.