UNITED NATIONS – President Trump on Tuesday signed a trilateral agreement with Denmark and Greenland that clears the way for a ramped-up U.S. military presence on the Arctic island
The agreement follows months of tension between Washington, Copenhagen and Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.
Mr. Trump has insisted for months that the U.S. should have near-total control of Greenland’s security.
At the signing ceremony on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday, Mr. Trump, flanked by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said the U.S. would continue to work in conjunction with the two countries.
“This is long in the making,” he said after the signing. “Many decades, probably centuries. You go back in the line of presidents and almost every president at least mentioned it, but most just mentioned it.”
Ms. Frederiksen emphasized that the new deal expands the existing agreement, signed in 1951, between the U.S. and Denmark over Greenland’s security.
“In the kingdom of Denmark, the United States has a friend that has always kept our word. An ally you have always been able to rely on.” Ms. Frederiksen said. “Seventy-five years ago, we entered into an agreement about the defense of Greenland; today we are signing a bigger and even better agreement. A deal that can last forever.”
She added that the deal “underlines the importance of the NATO alliance” and that Denmark welcomes further partnerships with allies to prevent malign foreign influence in Greenland.
Details of the agreement have not been made public. However, reporting in Reuters suggested that the deal would allow the U.S. to open two new military bases at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig.
However, Ms. Frederiksen confirmed that the agreement preserves Greenland’s ”territorial integrity” and right to “self-determination.”
Preserving territorial integrity and the rights to its domestic resources were key priorities for Greenland, Mr. Nielsen said after the signing.
“The world has changed since 1951. A notable change is Greenland itself at the table today signing this agreement,” Mr. Nielsen said. “And for Greenland this is not only an agreement about us. It is an agreement with us. It takes into account the people of Greenland and our rights, our livelihood and the development of our country.”
Greenland, whose foreign and security policy has long been determined by Denmark, lies in a strategic location in the North Atlantic that some security officials and experts have said could be vulnerable to incursions from Russia or China.
The island nation is also rich in critical minerals, resources used in everything from advanced artificial intelligence chips to electric vehicles and ballistic missiles. It’s unclear if the agreement outlines any concessions on mining rights for the U.S. in Greenland.
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