Greenland says deal with US will not impact sovereignty

Denmark and Greenland said any agreement with the ⁠United States would not compromise Greenland's sovereignty, after the US President Donald Trump said the deal would give Washington "permanent control" over the Arctic island's security, leaving its precise scope unclear.

The US, Denmark and Greenland said late last night they had reached an agreement for the US to develop a significant military presence on Greenland, while prohibiting US adversaries from building their own bases on the island.

Key details of the agreement have not been made public, including the scale of US military presence in the self-governing Danish territory and whether any formal power over foreign policy and resources would be ceded to the US.

Denmark and Greenland expressed hope that a deal, which is expected to be signed during the UN General Assembly next week, would end months of uncertainty triggered by Mr Trump's threats to seize control of Greenland.

Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Mr Trump has repeatedly insisted that Washington needed to control Greenland for strategic reasons, alarming NATO ally Denmark and sparking fierce pushback from the alliance.

"Next week could be a good week - for Greenland, Denmark, and the United ‌States," Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in ⁠a statement posted on Facebook.

He added: "A time of uncertainty will hopefully give way to a binding agreement that strengthens security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic, and thereby our shared security within NATO and Europe - while respecting the (Danish) Kingdom's red lines."

However, some residents in Greenland's capital, Nuuk, expressed scepticism about closer ties with the US.

"The US should not control Greenland. I think it's better if we have cooperation with NATO," said 65-year-old Jakob Ludvigsen.

"Trump should stay far, far, far away from Greenland. He should not expect our children and grandchildren to become Americans in the future," 71-year-old retired chef Marianne Hansen said.

Denmark and Greenland have repeatedly insisted that Washington respect the sovereignty of the Danish kingdom and accept that Greenland is not for ⁠sale.

Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform that under a deal, "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".

The deal "gives the United ‌States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland", Mr Trump said, adding that no adversary would ever be permitted to have a base or military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments there, without Washington's express written approval.

Mr Trump made the announcement after Reuters reported that the US and Denmark were closing in on a deal.

"This is probably not the end of ⁠President Trump's ambitions for Greenland and certainly not the end of US strategic interest in the territory and its resources," said Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, a political science professor at ⁠the University of Copenhagen.

If Copenhagen cedes any formal authority to Washington, it raises the question in Greenland of whether "this is the beginning of replacing the colonial relationship with Denmark with a colonial relationship to the United States", he added.

Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook that the proposed deal "recognises the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination."

NATO welcomes agreement

A NATO spokesperson said the alliance welcomed the agreement, which would "help advance ‌security, stability and cooperation in this vital region."

Denmark and Greenland - an autonomous Danish territory - both hailed the deal and said they would sign it on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week.

But the terms of the deal are uncertain, and Denmark says its sovereignty remains intact.

Mr Trump gave no details about how the deal would work, and it was not clear if it was linked to or substantially different from the Rutte deal.

But several media outlets have reported that the US wants to open three new military bases in southern Greenland, in addition to the Pituffik base it already has in the north of the territory.

A 1951 defence pact, updated in 2004, already allows Washington to ramp up troop deployments and military installations on the island provided it informs Denmark and Greenland in advance.

At the height of the crisis, Mr Trump would not rule out using force to seize the territory of 57,000 inhabitants, sowing anxiety within the EU and NATO.

Since then, tensions have cooled somewhat, and in an apparent move to assuage Mr Trump, NATO launched a new mission to bolster security in the Arctic.