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U.S. President Donald Trump signed a security agreement with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland on Tuesday that expands the American military footprint on the Arctic island, a deal that appeared aimed at defusing months of tension over Washington's ambitions there.
The trilateral agreement, signed on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, permits a larger U.S. military presence on Greenland but stops short of Trump's earlier demand that the United States annex the territory outright.
The signing ceremony brought together Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, following Trump's address to the UN General Assembly earlier in the day.
According to the agreement, Washington's rationale centers on countering the expanding Arctic presence of Russia and China. Greenlandic officials had pushed back against a full U.S. takeover of the island, and an expanded American military role emerged as the alternative that shaped the final terms.
In his UN address, Trump characterized the agreement as granting the United States sweeping authority over the island's security affairs, saying it gives Washington "permanent control over security and all other needs on that territory."
He was more specific about the agreement's intent when describing its limits on other powers. "No US adversary will ever be permitted to establish a military presence in Greenland any more, or make sensitive investments there without our express written approval," Trump said.
Frederiksen, signing alongside Trump and Nielsen, described the pact in lasting terms, calling it a deal that can "last forever." She tied the agreement to the broader NATO alliance, of which Denmark is a founding member, and said it respects Greenland's right to self-determination, a signal that Copenhagen viewed the outcome as preserving the island's autonomous status rather than ceding it.
Trump struck a similarly durable tone in his own remarks at the ceremony, predicting the arrangement would yield lasting benefits. "It's going to be a long-term, fantastic relationship," he said.
Greenland, the world's largest island, is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark and sits at a strategic crossroads in the Arctic, long valued for its proximity to shipping and defense corridors linking North America and Europe.
The island is also believed to hold substantial deposits of rare earth elements and other minerals, resources that have drawn increasing international interest as demand grows for materials used in electronics and defense technology. The United States has maintained a military presence on Greenland for decades under prior defense arrangements with Denmark, a NATO ally.
The new agreement follows a period in which Trump repeatedly floated the idea of the United States acquiring Greenland, prompting objections from both Copenhagen and Nuuk. Tuesday's signing represented the first formal document to emerge from that push, setting terms for an enlarged American security role on the island rather than a change in sovereignty.
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