Greenland: US-Denmark-Greenland Security Deal SIGNED at UNGA — Two New US Bases, Sovereignty Stays Danish, Trump Claims "Permanent Control"
UPDATE (Sept 22, 2026): SIGNED. Trump, Danish PM Mette Frederiksen, and Greenland PM Jens-Frederik Nielsen signed the trilateral Arctic security agreement on the UNGA sidelines in New York — converting last week's announced deal into binding text, published right after signing.
What the accord does (per the text released by all three governments):
- Lets Washington "modernize and expand" Pituffik Space Base and set up "defense areas" at Narsarsuaq (south) and Mestersvig (east) — Trump at the UNGA said the US will "immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence," including "building two very major military bases."
- Grants wide US military mobility across Greenland, including "undersea access," tied to defending the NATO area, Greenland, and the American continent — with an eye toward Trump's "Golden Dome" missile-defense scheme (no specifics decided, per Frederiksen).
- Bars any non-NATO country from manned or unmanned military installations or a "persistent" military presence in Greenland.
- Has no end date, survives Greenlandic independence (an independent Greenland would stay in NATO and assume Denmark's rights and obligations), and directs base-related contracts "to Greenlandic sources to the maximum extent possible."
The framing gap is the story: Trump claimed the deal "gives the United States permanent control over security and all other needs on that territory," while Frederiksen stressed it "recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom" — and Trump, asked whether US acquisition of Greenland was now off the table, did not respond. Reuters: the deal "stops short of Trump's demand that the US annex Greenland." It amends the 1951 US-Denmark defense pact, under which the US presence had shrunk from 17 bases with thousands of troops to ~200 soldiers at Pituffik.
Both capitals exhaled. Frederiksen: "a deal that can last forever... You don't want adversaries to come too close. I fully agree" — and, closing her press conference, "I think we'll head out soon and get a cold beer." Nielsen called it "a win-win-win agreement": "Your security is our security, and our security is your security." Greenland MP Naaja Nathanielsen called it the first binding agreement Greenland has signed as a country — "a huge step forward in our quest for more self-autonomy and a bigger seat at the table" — while warning "a lot of trust has been tested." NATO's Rutte welcomed it; Danish and Greenlandic parliamentary ratification still lies ahead.