Trump: U.S. Will Defend Greenland As Part Of ‘Permanent’ Security Deal With Denmark
Adedokun Waliyu
5 min read
The White House has struck a deal that gives “permanent control over security” in Greenland to the United States, President Donald Trump said Friday, declaring victory in his long-running desire to increase U.S. sway over the Arctic territory even though the deal fell far short of actual conquest.
The president said he had agreed with Danish and Greenlandic leaders that Washington would have wide-ranging powers to secure and defend Greenland, which is Danish territory, “completely addressing ALL of our many U.S. concerns.”
In a post on Truth Social, he said that “at my direction, we worked with representatives of Denmark and Greenland to guarantee that the United States will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland, and the United States of America.”
He said that there would be no cost to the United States, without explaining how.
Wants To Control Mineral Resources
Trump has long sought to take possession of Greenland, declaring concern about Chinese and Russian ambitions there and also saying he wanted to control the territory’s mineral resources.
His efforts in January to accelerate a U.S. takeover spurred fears in Europe that the United States could attempt to take the island by force – an unprecedented effort by NATO’s most powerful member to invade another NATO member’s territory. Instead, Danish and U.S. leaders entered negotiations that led to Friday’s agreement.
Danish and Greenlandic leaders issued a statement after Trump posted the announcement that said they “expected” to sign an agreement next week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
“I am pleased that there is the prospect of a good agreement for Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in the statement.
“An agreement that strengthens our common security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic region and is therefore also good for NATO and Europe. And an agreement that at the same time recognizes the Kingdom’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination.”
The deal was crafted to enable Trump to declare victory while still satisfying Denmark and Greenland’s concerns that they maintain sovereignty over the territory, according to people knowledgeable about the discussions which led up to Friday’s announcement, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment on sensitive diplomacy.
Months Of Discussions Led To Deal
It grew out of months of discussions led by a small circle of senior U.S. and Danish officials who worked deliberately under the radar to avoid leaders on both sides derailing their talks by talking about the hot-button issue publicly.
Trump, in particular, had a habit of inflaming the topic whenever he was asked about it publicly. He would repeat his avowed desire to “have” the territory whenever a reporter brought it up with him – and Frederiksen, who faced elections in March that were followed by months of painful coalition negotiations – often felt the need to respond tit-for-tat.
Still, Greenland had largely faded from the public eye in recent months, apart from a brief spark in July when Trump rekindled anxieties at a NATO summit in the Turkish capital of Ankara. He loudly declared there that he still wanted to take control of the Arctic territory.
Trump told reporters in Ankara that Greenland “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” and said that Europe’s refusal to allow Washington to take it over is “what hurt my relationship with NATO.”
At the summit, Frederiksen and Trump found themselves walking close to each other as leaders left a stage where they took the group photo that marks many international gatherings.
“Donald, you’re not going to get Greenland,” Frederiksen told Trump, walking up to him to deliver the message, according to three officials familiar with the exchange.
“OK, we’ll see,” Trump said in response.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the exchange.
Text Of Agreement Not Yet Published
The actual text of the agreement was not published on Friday. Trump said that no U.S. adversary “can EVER have a base in Greenland” or invest in the territory “without our express written approval.” And he said that deal was “Infinite Life,” without an end.
The United States intends to place “a large Military presence” in Greenland, and would immediately begin developing plans to do so, Trump said. The U.S. has had a significant military presence in Greenland continuously since the Second World War, and it signed a 1951 treaty with Denmark that gives Washington wide latitude to maintain bases on the territory. That treaty has no end date.
The leaders of both Greenland and Denmark were more cautious than Trump on Friday about the finality of the agreement, saying in their joint statement that “once the agreement has been signed, it will have to go through the necessary parliamentary procedures before entering into force.”
While Trump has long expressed a broad desire to possess the territory, lower-level U.S. officials charged with putting a policy framework onto Trump’s aims have said that one U.S. concern was that if Greenland ever declared independence from Denmark, agreements about the U.S. military presence there could be cancelled.
“Greenland will forever be part of the strategic defense area of North America and exclude any adversary from it,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “This deal permanently and completely addresses our national security concerns in Greenland.”
The possibility of Greenlandic independence is one reason the president has been focused on the permanence of any deal. But any irreversible agreement that involves security and the military bases of one country on another’s territory also raises questions about sovereignty, Danish and Greenlandic officials have said.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said that “the agreement recognizes Greenland’s interests and our place in international cooperation. It is to the benefit of us all.”
