Trump to sign Greenland security deal with Danish and Greenlandic leaders
The agreement is expected to expand the US military presence in Greenland while placing Arctic security under NATO’s collective oversight.
New York, United States. President Donald Trump is due to meet Danish and Greenlandic leaders on Tuesday to sign an agreement expected to allow a larger US military presence in Greenland and ease a standoff over the strategically located, mineral-rich island.
Signing ceremony
Trump will meet Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen at 10:30 a.m. ET, or 1630 GMT, at the UN General Assembly in New York for a trilateral signing ceremony.
The agreement reached by the parties will allow the United States to expand its military footprint in Greenland, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Military sites
In addition to the existing Pituffik Space Base, the deal is expected to open two new military sites: Narsarsuaq, a former Cold War airbase whose population has dwindled to a few dozen, and Mestersvig, currently used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish special forces unit.
Greenland, a former colony and now a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, lies between the Arctic and North America and holds extensive energy resources.
Arctic security
Trump’s refusal to rule out military or economic force to acquire Greenland triggered a diplomatic crisis within NATO in January and led Denmark and Greenland’s government into intensive negotiations.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the agreement would place Arctic security under NATO’s collective watch rather than leaving it to Washington and Copenhagen alone.
Trump said on Friday that the deal gives the United States “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland.” Denmark has not responded to the assertion but has said the agreement respects the kingdom’s sovereignty and Greenland’s right to self-determination.
Terms remain unpublished
The text of the agreement has not been published ahead of Tuesday’s signing. It remains unclear whether it will amend a 1951 defence treaty that has provided the legal basis for the US presence or operate as a new framework.
The deal marks a retreat from Trump’s earlier ambitions for the outright acquisition of Greenland, an island three times the size of Texas with a population of 57,000 spread along its rugged coastline.
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