President Trump said Friday he has struck a deal to give the United States “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland,” following a push by the president to boost the U.S.’ influence over the Arctic island — or, if possible, take it over.
The governments of Greenland and Denmark, which oversees the semi-autonomous island, confirmed they reached a deal with the U.S. Details are sparse, but the deal does not appear to constitute an outright U.S. takeover of the territory — an idea Mr. Trump had previously backed, rattling Denmark and other NATO members.
A State Department official told CBS News the U.S. was guaranteed permanent access to the island and overflight rights, allowing the military to potentially increase the number of bases. The deal also blocks non-NATO members from establishing military bases, and restricts American adversaries from making sensitive investments in Greenland, the official said.
The deal is set to remain in place permanently, “even if Greenland becomes a fully independent country,” the State Department official said.
Mr. Trump said in a Truth Social post that he plans to boost the U.S.’ presence in Greenland. The island has hosted a U.S. base on its western coast since the 1950s.
“We will immediately begin the process of developing a large Military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland, of which there are many,” Mr. Trump said. “We will work with the people of Greenland in its development and construction.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the deal a “huge win.”
“Greenland will forever be part of the strategic defense area of North America and exclude any adversary from it and the surrounding area,” he said in a statement. “This deal permanently and completely addresses our national security concerns in Greenland.”
Mr. Trump has argued since his first term that the U.S. needs control over Greenland, citing its position in a strategically important corner of the world, in between North America and Europe and across the thawing Arctic Ocean from Russia. He has pushed to buy the territory from Denmark, an idea officials in Denmark and Greenland have long rejected.
The president dramatically escalated those takeover efforts earlier this year, threatening steep tariffs on Denmark and any other countries that don’t “go along with” his efforts to buy Greenland. His administration did not rule out using military force to assume U.S. control of the island.
The gambit came shortly after Mr. Trump ordered the military to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power, and before he launched a war against Iran and blocked most of Cuba’s oil imports, signaling an increasingly assertive approach to foreign policy.
Denmark warned a U.S. takeover would effectively mark the end of the NATO alliance, and Greenland rejected the idea. Other NATO member states sided with Denmark, opposing Mr. Trump’s annexation push.
Mr. Trump called off the tariffs in January and took military action in Greenland off the table, announcing that he and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte had formed “the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland.” It’s not clear whether the agreement announced Friday stemmed from those discussions with NATO.
In a statement Friday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s office said the U.S., Danish and Greenlandic governments are planning to sign the deal next week, when scores of world leaders will be in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly. It will also need to go through “necessary parliamentary procedures” in Denmark.
“I am pleased that there is a prospect of a good agreement for Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States,” Frederiksen said. She added that the deal “strengthens our common security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic area and is thus also good for NATO and Europe,” and “recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination.”
Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, called the deal “gratifying.”
“The agreement recognizes Greenland’s interests and our place in international cooperation. It is for the benefit of us all,” he said in a statement shared by Frederiksen’s office.
