Donald Trump signs trilateral Arctic security pact with Denmark and Greenland

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a trilateral security agreement with Denmark and Greenland aimed at strengthening defenses in the Arctic and the North Atlantic. The pact, finalized at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, clears the way for an expanded American military footprint on Greenland and new or upgraded bases there.

Trump said the arrangement will reduce tensions created by his earlier public statements — including his 2019 proposal to buy Greenland — while keeping Greenland under Danish sovereignty. "This is a huge deal for Europe, for the United States and for everyone. And for Greenland, it will be incredible," he said shortly before signing the text with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Premier Jens‑Frederik Nielsen.

What the agreement allows

The agreement allows Washington to "modernize and expand" activities at Pituffik (Thule) and to establish defensive zones in Narsarsuaq in the south and Mestersvig in the east. It also authorizes the United States to create additional defensive zones across Greenland and to strengthen military operations or capabilities there, including "access from under the sea."

Signatories assert a shared interest in granting the U.S. armed forces access to Greenland for the defence of NATO's area. The text bars any non‑NATO country from establishing its own military installations—manned or unmanned—or maintaining a permanent military presence on Greenland unless the parties to the agreement decide otherwise. The agreement, officials said, "has no deadline" and would remain binding if Greenland becomes independent: a future independent Greenland would be expected to remain in NATO and to assume Denmark's rights and obligations under the pact.

Frederiksen described the deal as "a pact that can last forever," calling it useful for the United States, Greenland, Denmark and the broader NATO alliance. Nielsen called it "a deal from which everyone wins," adding: "Your security is our security, and our security is your security."

U.S. officials have said the agreement paves the way for a significant increase in American forces on suitable sites in Greenland, including the construction of two large bases. The United States has maintained a presence on Greenland for decades, shrinking since 1945 from thousands of personnel across some 17 facilities to roughly 200 troops now at Pituffik, which supports early‑warning, missile‑defense and space‑surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.

Negotiations among U.S., Greenlandic and Danish officials took place over months behind closed doors amid U.S. concerns about Greenland's mineral resources and strategic position as thawing Arctic ice opens new sea routes. The Danish parliament last year approved a law permitting U.S. military bases on Danish territory, expanding a 2023 arrangement that had given U.S. forces broad access to Danish air bases.

Photo: EPA/MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN DENMARK OUT