US and Denmark reach deal over Greenland security

The United States and Denmark have agreed a security deal covering Greenland, ending a diplomatic standoff sparked by President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to seize or buy the territory. The US president described the arrangement as giving Washington permanent security control over Greenland at no cost and said it bars adversaries from establishing military bases or making sensitive investments without US written approval. Denmark’s prime minister framed the pact as strengthening Arctic and North Atlantic security while affirming Danish sovereignty and Greenlanders’ right to self-determination; she said the accord will be signed at the United Nations General Assembly and must clear national parliaments before taking effect. Greenland’s government welcomed the agreement as reinforcing regional security and recognizing its interests.

Key details remain undisclosed, so it is unclear how the new deal differs from the 1951 US-Denmark agreement that already allows US troop deployments; the US already maintains personnel at the Pituffik base. The move follows months of high-profile pressure from Trump, who has promoted Greenland’s strategic value for a proposed “Golden Dome” missile-defence system and highlighted the island’s large, largely untapped reserves of rare-earth minerals crucial for modern technologies. US officials hailed the agreement as a national-security win.