President Trump seeks “permanent control” over security in the self-governing Danish territory under a deal to be signed Tuesday
The US is set to establish a military presence at two additional sites in Greenland under a security agreement with Denmark and the self-governing Arctic territory, according to media reports, as Copenhagen insists the deal does not surrender Danish sovereignty.
US President Donald Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen are expected to sign the agreement at UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the General Assembly. The full text has not yet been made public, but media reports suggest the US is seeking to expand its military footprint imminently.
Washington plans to reopen the former Cold War-era Bluie West One base at Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland and establish a presence at Mestersvig on the island’s east coast, Reuters reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the negotiations.
Mestersvig is currently used by Denmark’s Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite military unit tasked with reconnaissance and enforcing Danish sovereignty in the remote Arctic region. Trump has repeatedly mocked the kingdom’s reliance on such recon teams as evidence that Copenhagen was failing to adequately protect Greenland.
Trump has portrayed the agreement in sweeping terms, saying last week that it gives the US “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland.” He also claimed that no American adversary would be allowed to establish a base or military presence, or make sensitive investments on the island without Washington’s approval.
Denmark has stressed that the arrangement does not transfer sovereignty over Greenland to the United States.
Frederiksen said the agreement explicitly recognizes “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” as well as the Greenlandic population’s right to self-determination. Copenhagen has presented the deal as a way of placing greater responsibility for Arctic security within NATO rather than handing control exclusively to Washington.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has said Copenhagen remains willing to accommodate legitimate US security interests in the Arctic while maintaining its established “red lines.”
The agreement follows months of tensions triggered by Trump’s repeated demands for US control over Greenland, during which he at times declined to rule out military or economic pressure. Copenhagen and Nuuk firmly rejected any transfer of the territory.
Washington already enjoys extensive military access under a 1951 defense agreement, amended in 2004. During the Cold War, the US operated 17 installations and stationed more than 10,000 personnel in Greenland. Today, its presence is concentrated at Pituffik Space Base, with roughly 150 US military personnel stationed there.
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