President Trump said the U.S. has reached an agreement with Denmark and Greenland that would give the U.S. “permanent control over security and all other needs” in the Danish island territory.
Mr. Trump announced the deal on Truth Social late Friday, saying that the pact will address “all our many U.S. concerns” and would be at “No Cost to the United States.”
The president did not share the text of any agreement or offer specifics about its terms. The U.S. already has an agreement with Denmark that allows it to station troops in Greenland.
“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,” he wrote.
Mr. Trump said the U.S. would begin the process of developing “a large military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland, of which there are many.”
The deal, as Mr. Trump described it, appears to stop far short of his prior insistence that Greenland become part of the United States.
Greenland has insisted it is not for sale, and the European Union strongly pushed back this year against Mr. Trump’s push to acquire the island.
Greenland, Mr. Trump said earlier this year, “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark.”
Denmark retains control over Greenland’s foreign policy, national security and monetary policy, but Greenland operates as an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
Mr. Trump has long sought control of mineral-rich Greenland, saying he’s concerned that Russia and China are already making inroads.
In addition to its supply of critical minerals, Greenland’s location would make it an indispensable site for America’s ballistic missile early warning systems and space surveillance, plus give the U.S. access to new transpolar shipping routes.
A senior U.S. official told reporters on a conference call in July that a U.S. takeover of Greenland is the only way to address long-term security risks.
“We still think that’s the best way to meet the defense needs of NATO with respect to Greenland,” the official said. “And as of now, the only solution that we found as to how to solve that is with the United States acquiring Greenland.”
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