Washington is preparing to return to a former Cold War installation in southern Greenland and establish another military site on the territory’s east coast, expanding the American presence beyond Pituffik Space Base under a new security agreement with Denmark and Greenland.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
The United States plans to expand its military footprint across Greenland with installations at Narsarsuaq in the south and Mestersvig on the east coast under a new security agreement negotiated with Denmark and Greenland, marking a partial return to the far larger American presence maintained on the Arctic territory during the Cold War.
Three people familiar with the agreement described the planned expansion, with two identifying the locations to Reuters as Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig. The arrangement would give the U.S. military access to two additional locations beyond Pituffik Space Base, currently the only remaining American military installation in Greenland.
Narsarsuaq would bring the U.S. back to a location with a direct connection to its Cold War-era military operations. Washington previously operated Bluie West One there before closing the installation in the 1950s. The settlement’s population has since fallen to only a few dozen people.
Mestersvig already functions as a military outpost on Greenland’s east coast and is used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish special forces unit responsible for operations in the vast Arctic territory.
Together, the locations would considerably broaden the geographic reach of the current U.S. military presence. Pituffik Space Base is now Washington’s sole remaining installation in Greenland and has approximately 150 American military personnel stationed there. By comparison, the United States operated 17 military installations across Greenland during the Cold War and deployed more than 10,000 personnel at the height of that presence.
The agreement was scheduled to be signed by Denmark, Greenland and the United States at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City at 10:30 a.m. ET, or 1430 GMT, Tuesday. Ahead of the signing, the text had not been released publicly, and three people familiar with the negotiations said the provisions would not be final until the document was signed.
The Danish and Greenlandic governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment before the planned signing.
A White House spokesperson declined to provide details of the agreement but repeated the administration’s earlier statement that the arrangement would “secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States.”
Denmark has described the broader framework as one that places responsibility for Arctic security within NATO rather than treating Greenland’s defense as a matter solely between Copenhagen and Washington. The agreement supports a stronger NATO role in the Arctic while expanding the U.S. military presence on the strategically located territory.
The negotiations followed months of tension over President Donald Trump’s repeated statements that the United States should control Greenland. Trump at times declined to rule out military or economic measures to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory, while polling cited in connection with the negotiations showed an overwhelming majority of Greenlanders opposed the prospect.
Those tensions intensified in January, producing a diplomatic dispute within NATO and prompting Denmark and Greenland to enter negotiations with Washington aimed at addressing Arctic security while easing the disagreement over the territory’s future.
The resulting arrangement expands American military access without transferring Greenland to U.S. control. It also places restrictions on the ability of U.S. adversaries to establish a military presence or make sensitive investments in Greenland without approval, adding an economic-security component to the expanded defense relationship.
Under the agreement, Greenland and Denmark would retain roles in implementing those restrictions. The arrangement also remains subject to approval by the Greenlandic and Danish parliaments before taking effect. Reuters reported that the pact bars an ongoing military presence by non-NATO countries and restricts investors outside NATO member states, NATO partner countries or the European Union from controlling or exercising major influence over sensitive sectors.
Trump characterized the agreement as a major development for U.S. interests in Greenland.
“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 remarks cited by the Daily Mail. “We will be very protective of it!”
“This is a dream come true for the United States of America, one that is very important, historic, and special,” he said.
The planned return to Narsarsuaq carries particular historical significance because it restores a U.S. military presence at a site abandoned more than seven decades ago. Mestersvig, meanwhile, would extend American operations to Greenland’s east coast through a location already used by Danish forces.
That would leave the United States with a military presence spanning three widely separated areas of Greenland: Pituffik in the northwest, Narsarsuaq in the south and Mestersvig in the east.
The expansion comes as Arctic defense increasingly falls within NATO’s broader security planning. Denmark has said the new agreement is intended to make Arctic security a shared alliance responsibility rather than an exclusively Danish-American undertaking, while allowing Washington to increase its operational presence on Greenland.
For the United States, the agreement represents the most significant expansion of its Greenland military footprint since much of its Cold War network was dismantled. Although the planned presence remains far smaller than the 17 installations and more than 10,000 personnel once deployed there, the addition of Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig would end decades in which Pituffik stood as the sole surviving U.S. military installation on the territory.
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