President Donald Trump is set to sign a landmark security agreement with Denmark and Greenland on Tuesday morning, securing permanent U.S. military access to the Arctic island without changing its sovereignty.
Trump will meet Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen for a trilateral signing ceremony on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, a White House official told Fox News Digital. ABC News separately confirmed the planned ceremony.
“The three leaders will formalize their new agreement that will secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States,” a White House official told ABC News.
Trump announced the breakthrough Friday after months of negotiations triggered by his push for greater American control of Greenland. Although the agreement stops short of the territorial acquisition he once sought, the White House says it resolves the national security concerns that drove his campaign.
A Permanent American Foothold
The United States has maintained defense rights in Greenland for decades under a 1951 agreement and currently operates Pituffik Space Base, a critical hub for missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance.
The new pact would give Washington permanent access and overflight rights and allow the United States to expand beyond its current military footprint. A State Department official told CBS News that the military could potentially establish additional bases under the agreement.
Trump said the United States would begin the process of developing a larger military presence in Greenland immediately.
“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 Friday.
Administration officials say the agreement is designed to remain in effect even if Greenland one day becomes fully independent from Denmark. The expanded access could also support Trump’s proposed Golden Dome missile defense system as Washington increases its focus on the northern approaches to the continental United States.
Blocking America’s Adversaries
The agreement would bar non-NATO countries from establishing military bases or stationing troops in Greenland. It would also create a mechanism to block adversarial investment in sensitive areas, including ports, telecommunications networks, undersea cables and critical minerals.
Those restrictions are intended to prevent China, Russia or another U.S. rival from building a military or economic foothold on an island whose position between North America and Europe has taken on greater strategic importance.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the pact “a huge win for the United States and the American people.”
“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 in a statement reported by Fox News and CBS News.
Rubio said the agreement guarantees U.S. security interests at “zero cost to the U.S. taxpayer.” A U.S. official told Fox News that the phrase means Washington will make no payment to Denmark or Greenland for the new rights; future military construction and deployments would still require normal U.S. spending.
A Deal After Months Of Tension
Trump spent much of the year arguing that outright American ownership of Greenland was necessary to protect the United States. Denmark and Greenland rejected that demand, maintaining that the island was not for sale and that Greenlanders alone would decide its future.
The final pact leaves sovereignty unchanged while granting Washington the expanded security rights it sought.
Frederiksen said the agreement strengthens security in the Arctic and North Atlantic while recognizing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenlanders’ right to self-determination.
Nielsen said the pact recognizes Greenland’s interests and strengthens the security of Greenland, Denmark, the United States and the Western alliance, according to a joint government announcement.
Tuesday’s ceremony will formalize the agreement, but the deal will still need to pass the required parliamentary procedures in Denmark and Greenland before it enters into force.
