U.S. and Denmark sign agreement to expand military presence in Greenland

President Donald Trump announced a new security agreement with Denmark and Greenland that will allow the United States to build two additional military bases on the island and grant unrestricted access to air, land and sea routes between them. The sites will be at the former Bluie West One base in Narsarsuaq and at the Danish Sirius Dog Sled Patrol facility in Mestersvig, which will be refurbished for U.S. use.

The pact updates the 1951 U.S.–Denmark arrangement, maintaining Danish sovereignty and Greenlandic self-determination while prohibiting non-NATO nations from establishing bases or mining critical minerals without consent from all three parties. It also gives Denmark and Greenland authority to review proposals for unmanned military installations.

"We will have the complete ability to do what is necessary to defend the American continent and also Europe and other places," Trump told the United Nations General Assembly.

"Seventy-five years ago, we entered into an agreement about the defense of Greenland. Today we are signing an even bigger and better agreement — a deal that can last forever," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at the signing ceremony.

"We are, have been and will remain a steadfast friend of the United States and a part of the Western alliance. Your security is our security, and our security is your security," Greenland Premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen added.

European officials welcomed the deal. European Council President António Costa described it as a positive step for transatlantic cooperation and Arctic security, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called it a mutually acceptable solution consistent with international law.