Trump’s Greenland Deal: U.S. Military Presence Set to Expand Under Major Arctic Security Pact

U.S. President Donald Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen signed a trilateral security agreement on September 22, 2026, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. 

The agreement is designed to strengthen security cooperation in the Arctic and North Atlantic while expanding the United States’ military access and presence in Greenland. 

Under the agreement, the United States will be allowed to modernize and expand activities at Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland. It also provides for additional U.S. defense areas at Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland and Mestersvig in the east. 

The agreement gives U.S. military aircraft broad rights to fly over and land in Greenland and allows U.S. public vessels access to Greenland’s territorial waters under the terms of the agreement. 

The pact also states that countries outside NATO cannot establish their own military installations or maintain a persistent military presence in Greenland unless the parties agree otherwise. It includes restrictions concerning certain sensitive foreign investments as well. 

Trump said the United States would begin developing a larger military presence in Greenland, including two major military bases. His statement refers to the planned expansion of U.S. defense infrastructure under the new agreement. 

At the same time, Denmark and Greenland have maintained that the agreement does not transfer Greenland’s sovereignty to the United States. The agreement recognizes Greenland’s self-determination and specifies arrangements that would apply even if Greenland becomes independent, including continued NATO membership. 

The agreement has no stated end date and amends and supplements the existing 1951 U.S.-Denmark defense agreement concerning Greenland. It will enter into force after the required parliamentary procedures are completed. 

The White House

The deal follows months of tension over Trump’s repeated calls for greater U.S. control over Greenland. The new agreement instead establishes a framework for expanded U.S. military access and Arctic security cooperation while Greenland remains under Danish sovereignty.