Trump has a deal to build US military presence in Greenland while
leaving island in Denmark's hands
[September 19, 2026]
By AAMER MADHANI and BEN FINLEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Friday he has a deal
with Denmark to bolster the U.S. military presence in Greenland after
months of threatening to take the island by force from the NATO ally —
an agreement that also keeps the Arctic territory in Denmark's hands.
Trump in a social media post announcing the deal said the emerging
agreement “gives the United States permanent control over security, and
all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many
U.S. concerns.”
He added that with the agreement his administration would “immediately”
begin the process of developing a larger military presence on the
mineral-rich Danish territory.
The deal came after officials from U.S., Greenland and Denmark quietly
negotiated for months behind the scenes, searching for solutions to
address some of Trump’s security concerns about a territory of roughly
56,000 residents.
For Trump, the Greenland issue had largely been put on the back burner
as he launched a military operation to oust former Venezuelan President
Nicolás Maduro from power and joined with Israel to start a war against
Iran.
With the announcement of the pact, Trump is able to tout a foreign
policy achievement ahead of the midterm elections. The six-month-old
Iran conflict has reshaped the race, undermining Trump’s campaign pledge
to steer clear of foreign conflicts and challenging Republicans as they
cling to narrow majorities in Congress.
The office of Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said the deal
will be signed by all three governments next week during the United
Nations General Assembly, but parliamentary action is still needed by
the Danish and Greenland governments before it can be enforced.
In a statement she said “the agreement recognizes the sovereignty and
territorial integrity” of Greenland and Denmark and upholds both
people's right "to self-determination.”
Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said the emerging deal
benefits all three governments and “recognizes Greenland’s interests."
Allies pushed back on Trump's call for the US to acquire Greenland
With his return to the White House last year, Trump called on Denmark to
sell the island to the United States, while insisting Greenland is
crucial for U.S. security. He pointedly wouldn't rule out taking the
island by military force, even though Denmark is a NATO ally of the U.S.
Denmark and Greenland repeatedly said the island is not for sale and
condemned reports of the U.S. gathering intelligence there. The U.S.
push for Greenland was also fiercely opposed by Russia and much of
Europe.
But Trump with the announcement Friday suggested an understanding may
have been reached that could bring an end to what was viewed as an
existential crisis by Denmark.
“We look forward to working with the wonderful people of Denmark and
Greenland toward a magnificent future with respect to this large, and
highly strategic, parcel of land,” Trump said in his post. “We will be
very protective of it!”
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Trump had claimed the U.S. needs Greenland to deter threats from
Russia and China, and has repeatedly made false claims of Chinese
and Russian military forces lurking off the island’s coastline.
The agreement bans any non-NATO base in Greenland, limits
adversaries from being able to make investments in Greenland and
guarantees that China and Russia cannot have a base in Greenland,
according to a State Department official who was not authorized to
comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio cheered the statement as a “historic
deal” and “huge win” for the United States.
“Greenland will forever be part of the strategic defense area of
North America and exclude any adversary from it and the surrounding
area,” Rubio said. “This deal permanently and completely addresses
our national security concerns in Greenland.”
The island is crucial to North America's defense
But the U.S. has long had a military presence in Greenland, holding
several bases and installations through the Cold War before dialing
back its presence.
The U.S. still operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in
northwestern Greenland, which was built after the U.S. and Denmark
signed the Defense of Greenland Treaty in 1951. It supports missile
warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the
U.S. and NATO.
Greenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with more than
two-thirds of its territory lying within the Arctic Circle. That has
made it crucial to the defense of North America since World War II,
when the U.S. occupied Greenland to ensure it didn’t fall into the
hands of Nazi Germany and to protect vital North Atlantic shipping
lanes.
Despite Trump's repeated aggressive comments toward Denmark about
Greenland, Danish officials had repeatedly made clear that they
stood ready to work with the U.S. to expand the American military
presence and strengthen U.S. commercial interests in Greenland.
Still, Trump’s repeated demands for Greenland and threats to take it
by force rattled the NATO alliance and discomfited European allies,
said Imran Bayoumi, an associate director at the Atlantic Council’s
Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.
“I think Americans really underestimate how damaging it was for the
image of the United States in Europe,” he said. “I think
Greenlanders, Danes, Europeans saw this as a real attack on their
sovereignty, and it’s going to take a lot of work to repair.”
—
AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed reporting.
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