President Donald Trump has announced an agreement with Greenland, in which the U.S. will take permanent control of the Arctic island’s security.
The deal comes after months of negotiations between the U.S. and Denmark after the U.S. president threatened to seize the territory by force earlier this year.
President Trump said he would “immediately begin the process of developing a large Military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland” after announcing the deal. Reports suggest the agreement means the U.S. will not have outright control and ownership of Greenland, but will give the U.S. permanent access to the island and permission to build military bases there without Danish approval.
It must be passed by the Danish parliament to be ratified.
“I am pleased to announce that the United States of America has entered into an Agreement with The Kingdom of Denmark, and Greenland, that gives the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many U.S. concerns,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday evening.
The president has eyed Greenland since before he returned to the White House in January 2025, arguing that the U.S. needed to control the semi-autonomous Danish territory for national security purposes.
Trump said that the agreement means the U.S. “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.”
The full detail of the deal is unclear, but the U.S. president said the agreement means adversaries such as Russia and China will need his approval to work with Greenland militarily and economically.
“From now on, no U.S. adversary can EVER have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval,” Trump said.
The president had warned Russia and China would take Greenland if he didn’t step in.
“It's so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” Trump claimed during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One in January. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security — and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”
Trump boasted about his role in the new agreement with Greenland that he said would be “cherished by the American People.”
“For over 100 years, Presidents have known the strategic importance of Greenland, but NONE of them were able to do anything about it. I am proud to be the President that permanently and conclusively addressed this very important situation,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“We will immediately begin the process of developing a large Military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland, of which there are many. We will work with the people of Greenland in its development and construction,” he added.
Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, and the leader of Greenland’s government, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, released statements on Friday night saying that the agreement was expected to be signed at the UN General Assembly next week.
”It is encouraging that we are about to make an agreement that will ensure and strengthen the security of Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark, the United States, and the Western Alliance. The agreement recognizes Greenland’s interests and our place in the international cooperation. It is to the benefit of us all,” said Nielsen.
Frederiksen added: ”I am glad that we are about to make a great agreement for Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark, and the United States. An agreement which strengthens our common security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic Area and therefore is great for NATO and Europe as well. And an agreement which at the same time recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination.”
Since Trump began pushing to acquire Greenland, he has been met with opposition, not just from the people of the Arctic island and Denmark, but also from America’s European allies.
A joint statement from seven European leaders published earlier this year read: “Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”
In the January 6 statement, leaders from France, Germany, the United Kingdom and other U.S. allies said: “We and many other Allies have increased our presence, activities and investments, to keep the Arctic safe and to deter adversaries.”
They said that since Denmark is a part of Nato, “security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved collectively...by upholding the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders.”
Days later, Trump threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff on imports from European allies, several of which were part of the earlier joint statement, “until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.”
Trump quickly backed down from his tariff threats, claiming to have “formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland” with NATO chief Mark Rutte.
Even with the new agreement between government officials, it is doubtful that Trump will sway those in Greenland opposed to American intervention.
The day Trump threatened tariffs against European nations if he did not strike a deal to acquire Greenland, protesters in Nuuk held Greenlandic flags and a banner that read “Make America Go Away” and “We Are Not Property!”
“I think he should mind his own business,” Greenlander Lars Vintner, a heating engineer, told the Associated Press in January.
“What’s he going to do with Greenland? He speaks of Russians and Chinese and everything in Greenlandic waters or in our country,” he said. “Every summer we go sailing and we go hunting and I never saw Russian or Chinese ships here in Greenland.”
A majority of Americans are also not sold on the idea of gaining control of Greenland.
Fifty-eight percent of Americans oppose a U.S. takeover of the Arctic island while 21 percent favor it and 20 percent are unsure, according to a Pew Research Center poll from January.
