President Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States reached an agreement with Denmark and Greenland providing permanent U.S. military access, basing and overflight rights while barring adversarial countries from establishing military positions or making specified sensitive investments on the Arctic island.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States has reached a security agreement with Denmark and Greenland providing Washington with permanent military access to Greenland while leaving sovereignty over the self-governing Arctic territory unchanged.

Trump described the agreement as giving the United States “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland,” saying it resolves the national security concerns that drove his administration’s months-long negotiations with Copenhagen and Nuuk.

The agreement does not transfer Greenland to the United States, according to administration officials. Instead, it provides permanent U.S. access, basing and overflight rights and gives Washington the ability to establish additional military installations when American officials determine they are required.

Trump announced the agreement in a Truth Social statement.

“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,” Trump wrote.

“Additionally, from now on, no U.S. adversary can EVER have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval.”

The president said the agreement carries no expiration date and would involve “NO COST” to the United States for the rights it provides.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio characterized the agreement as resolving Washington’s Arctic security concerns without acquiring Greenland itself.

“This historic deal is a huge win for the United States and the American people,” Rubio told Fox News. “Thanks to President Trump’s vision and leadership, this historic agreement permanently guarantees U.S. security interests in the Arctic at zero cost to the U.S. taxpayer.”

“Greenland will forever be part of the strategic defense area of North America and exclude any adversary from it and the surrounding area,” Rubio continued. “This deal permanently and completely addresses our national security concerns in Greenland.”

The complete agreement had not been publicly released as of Friday afternoon, and Danish and Greenlandic government websites had not yet published corresponding text detailing the arrangement. Earlier Friday, Reuters reported that negotiators were closing in on an agreement that would expand the American military presence while stopping well short of U.S. acquisition of Greenland.

A senior U.S. official told Fox News that the agreement gives the United States permanent access, basing and overflight rights and permits construction of additional military facilities as necessary.

Unlike an acquisition of the territory, the arrangement leaves Greenland within the Kingdom of Denmark and preserves its existing political status.

Administration officials said the agreement is also designed to remain effective if Greenland becomes independent from Denmark at some point in the future.

“The difference here is we’re not spending any money for the right,” the senior official said of expanding the U.S. military presence.

The agreement also establishes restrictions aimed specifically at Russia, China and other countries outside the NATO alliance.

According to U.S. officials, those countries would be prohibited from establishing military bases, permanently stationing forces or undertaking designated sensitive investments in Greenland without American approval.

The restrictions are expected to cover strategically important infrastructure such as telecommunications networks, undersea cables, ports and critical-mineral projects.

Trump has repeatedly cited potential Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic as justification for seeking greater U.S. authority in Greenland.

Neither Russia nor China currently maintains a military base in Greenland.

The administration has argued that future commercial investments involving critical infrastructure could create security concerns even when they are not formally military projects.

Officials have compared that concern with Washington’s scrutiny of Chinese commercial interests around the Panama Canal and said the Greenland agreement is intended to prevent a similar dispute from developing in the Arctic.

“We’re never going to face that in Greenland as a result of this,” the senior administration official said.

The arrangement substantially expands upon a defense relationship that has existed for more than seven decades.

The United States and Denmark signed the Defense of Greenland Agreement in 1951, giving the U.S. broad rights to construct, operate and maintain military facilities in designated defense areas while expressly preserving Danish sovereignty.

Under that agreement, the United States could station personnel, construct facilities, operate communications systems, store supplies and use adjacent waters and airspace without compensating Denmark.

The United States currently operates Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, formerly known as Thule Air Base.

Pituffik plays a role in missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance because Greenland’s geographic position provides an advantageous location between North America and Eurasia.

The new arrangement, according to U.S. officials, goes beyond the existing framework by making American access permanent and providing the United States greater freedom to establish additional facilities.

Denmark and Greenland would be consulted regarding new installations but would not possess approval authority over each individual project, according to the senior U.S. official quoted by Fox News.

That provision could become particularly significant as the Trump administration develops its planned Golden Dome missile-defense system.

U.S. and Danish negotiators discussed arrangements that could allow Greenlandic territory to support Golden Dome, according to people familiar with the negotiations cited by Reuters.

The administration envisions Golden Dome as a multilayered system capable of detecting and intercepting ballistic, hypersonic and other missile threats directed at the United States.

Greenland’s location could make radar, tracking or other military installations there useful to the system.

Trump’s announcement follows months of tension over his repeated assertions that American control of Greenland was essential to national security.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic leaders rejected any transfer of sovereignty and repeatedly said Greenland was not for sale.

Frederiksen said in January that the existing 1951 agreement already gave the United States broad access to Greenland and argued there was no justification for American annexation.

European leaders likewise issued a joint statement in January declaring that Arctic security should be addressed cooperatively through NATO while respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“Greenland belongs to its people,” the leaders said. “It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”

Those objections centered on Trump’s earlier discussion of acquiring or controlling the territory rather than expanded military cooperation itself.

Denmark and Greenland have simultaneously supported a stronger Western defense posture in the Arctic as Russian military activity and geopolitical competition with China have increased.

Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands have adopted additional Arctic defense measures, including investments in surveillance and military capabilities, while describing security cooperation with the United States and other Arctic allies as part of their strategy.

Negotiations over the new U.S. arrangement intensified this year.

According to Fox News, Rubio, White House adviser Stephen Miller and officials at the State Department and National Security Council participated in talks with Danish and Greenlandic representatives beginning in February.

A second U.S. official described the process as involving “various rounds of quiet negotiations that never leaked and never got out there.”

The official said Danish and Greenlandic representatives ultimately concluded that a broader American military role served their security interests as well.

Rubio similarly said the negotiations reflected a recognition that defending an island of Greenland’s size and strategic location would require significant military resources.

“They recognize at the end of the day that they have a national security concern here as well,” Rubio said. “Denmark and Greenland understand that they don’t have the financial means necessary to defend Greenland if it were to come under attack or be threatened. The United States has the power to do that.”

Until Friday’s announcement, the sovereignty dispute had remained one of the largest obstacles to an agreement.

Danish officials maintained throughout the negotiations that security cooperation could be expanded but Greenland’s political status could not be decided by Washington.

As recently as Sept. 14, Frederiksen said she saw positive signals in discussions with the United States and hoped for a peaceful solution concerning Arctic security and Greenland.

The arrangement Trump announced Friday appears designed to separate those two issues.

The United States does not acquire Greenland or obtain formal sovereignty over the island, while Washington receives permanent military rights and expanded authority to block specified adversarial activity.

The distinction allows Trump to claim that the security concerns behind his effort have been addressed without Denmark transferring the territory.

It also preserves Greenland’s self-government and Denmark’s sovereignty unless Greenlanders separately pursue independence through their existing political process.

The final legal details will depend on the agreement’s text, including how “sensitive investments” and adversarial countries are defined, how disputes will be resolved and how the new arrangement interacts with the 1951 defense agreement.

Trump nevertheless said Friday that, from the U.S. government’s perspective, the central issue has been settled.

The United States will have a permanent military role in Greenland, administration officials said, while Russia, China and other designated adversaries will be excluded from military basing and specified strategic investments without American approval.

Original article