Trump Signs Greenland Deal — Two New Military Bases Coming

By
Right Patriots
-
0

President Donald Trump signed a landmark agreement with Denmark and Greenland on Tuesday to massively expand U.S. military presence on the Arctic island — putting two new military bases on the map and settling months of tension over Trump’s ambitions to secure the strategic territory.

The deal, signed on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, allows Washington to modernize and expand operations at the existing Pituffik Space Base in northwest Greenland and to establish new defense areas at Narsarsuaq in the south and Mestersvig in the east.

“This is tremendous for Europe and for the United States and for everybody. And for Greenland, it’s going to be incredible.”

Trump made the comment moments before putting pen to paper alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly earlier in the day, Trump announced the U.S. would “immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations,” including “building two very major military bases.”

The agreement comes after Trump spent months publicly pressing for Greenland to become part of the United States — a campaign that strained NATO relations and unsettled the island’s 56,000 residents. Danish officials warned a U.S. takeover would mean the end of the Atlantic alliance.

But officials from all three parties negotiated behind the scenes for months, ultimately landing on a deal that addresses Trump’s security concerns without transferring sovereignty.

The accord allows the U.S. broad military mobility across Greenland’s territory, including “undersea access.” It also blocks any non-NATO country from setting up military installations on the island unless all signatories agree otherwise — a clear hedge against Russian and Chinese ambitions in the Arctic.

Trump previously insisted the U.S. needed to “take Greenland” to prevent Russia or China from doing the same. Though he said he would rather “make a deal” for the territory, he added: “one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland.”

On Tuesday, Trump did not respond to questions about whether a U.S. acquisition of Greenland was off the table.

The agreement “does not have an end date,” according to the text released by all three governments. If Greenland chooses to become independent in the future, it will agree to remain in NATO and take on Denmark’s rights and obligations under the deal.

Washington is required to award contracts for goods and services related to setting up, maintaining, or dismantling the bases “to Greenlandic sources to the maximum extent possible.”

Frederiksen called the agreement a “deal that can last forever,” saying it benefits the U.S., Greenland, Denmark, and the broader NATO alliance.

“Mr. President, you have been very clear: You don’t want adversaries to come too close. I fully agree.”

Nielsen, Greenland’s prime minister, called it “a win-win-win agreement.”

“Your security is our security,” he told Trump, “and our security is your security.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte celebrated the accord’s signing on X, writing that “this agreement, along with NATO’s growing role in securing this vital region, enhances our collective security and supports a safer and more stable future for us all.”

Naaja Nathanielsen, one of Greenland’s two lawmakers in the Danish parliament and a former government minister in Nuuk, told the Associated Press that “a lot of trust has been tested” during the standoff.

“It’s been really difficult in Greenland and people have been generally afraid and worried about everything, from losing our country, to our livelihoods and so on,” she said.

Nevertheless, Nathanielsen called the accord “a huge step in the right direction,” praising it as the first binding agreement Greenland has signed as a country.

“For us, that is a huge step forward in our quest for more self autonomy and a bigger seat at the table,” she said.

The United States has maintained a military presence in Greenland for decades. Since 1945, that presence shrank from thousands of soldiers on 17 bases and installations to roughly 200 soldiers on the remote Pituffik Space Base. The base supports missile warning, missile defense, and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.

Denmark’s parliament approved a bill last year to allow U.S. military bases on Danish soil, widening a 2023 agreement made with the Biden administration that gave U.S. troops broad access to air bases in Denmark.

About two-thirds of Greenland’s territory sits inside the Arctic Circle, where melting sea ice has opened additional shipping routes. Trade and resource extraction have all factored into concerns about Greenland’s future — making the island a strategic flashpoint between the U.S. and rival powers.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR