President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a deal on the security of the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland, in a bid to end the standoff over the strategic island. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen joined Trump at the United Nations General Assembly in New York for the trilateral signing ceremony. The deal follows Trump’s repeated threats to annex Greenland—a move he insisted was a matter of “national security,” on account of the mineral-rich Arctic territory’s positioning between the U.S., Russia, and Europe.
Trump has long argued that Denmark cannot be relied upon to protect the island. Tensions reached a critical point earlier this year, when he threatened to tariff European allies until Greenland fell under U.S. control, and suggested he may pull the U.S. out of NATO over the tussle. The signed agreement notably stops short of Trump's call for the U.S. to take over Greenland as a U.S. territory.
Instead, in a speech at the U.N. gathering, Trump said the deal gives the U.S. "permanent control over security and all other needs on that territory" and emphasized that "no U.S. adversary will ever be permitted to establish a military presence in Greenland any more, or make sensitive investments there without our express written approval." Upon the announcement of the deal on Friday, Trump had said the U.S. will "immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland, of which there are many" and specified that this is an "infinite life agreement, there is no end." A State Department official previously told TIME the deal ensures Greenland will forever be a part of the strategic defense area of North America. Danish and Greenlandic officials have expressed hope over the agreement, while emphasizing that the U.S. military arrangement will not compromise the territory’s sovereignty—a fear among Greenlanders following Trump’s pressure campaign.
Some critics have questioned whether the differs all that much from the existing 1951 defense agreement that gave the U.S. military extensive rights in Greenland. The U.S. already has one base in Greenland, the Pituffik Space Base, which is located in the northwest of the territory and provides missile warning and space surveillance capabilities. Per the new deal, the U.S. will be allowed to establish additional "defense area[s]" on the island, specifically at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig." Torrey Taussig, director of the transatlantic security initiative at the Atlantic Council, says the deal is a positive step for U.S. relations with its Western allies.
They've taken the temperature down with this [Trump] Administration in a way that I don't see it really flaring up again, because the President is viewing it as a win," she tells TIME. Here's what to know about the high-stakes agreement, what it means for Greenland’s sovereignty, and if it stands to end the standoff over the island. Trump has stressed that the agreement gives Washington “permanent control” over Greenland’s security, concerns over which he has positioned at the center of his campaign for U.S. to control the island.
The new agreement ensures that no American “adversary” can establish a base in Greenland, have a military presence on the island, or make "sensitive investments” in the territory without written approval from the U.S. The agreement, according to a State Department official, establishes “permanent” guarantees that “only the U.S. and our allies can make sensitive investments in Greenland, eliminating the previous status quo in which adversaries have been investing in Greenland's sensitive sectors without investment screening.” Furthermore, China and Russia are explicitly prohibited from having a base in Greenland and cannot send troops to Greenland. The permanence of the deal is a development from what was in place before, experts tell TIME.
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