President Trump signed a major Arctic security deal with Denmark and Greenland Tuesday, expanding the U.S. military footprint on the strategic island after months of tension over his push to acquire it.
Trump signed the agreement in New York with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
The deal keeps Greenland under Danish sovereignty while giving Washington a much larger security role.
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Under the agreement, the United States can establish military facilities at Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland and Mestersvig on the east coast. It also clears the way for elements of Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile-defense system and updates the countries’ longstanding 1951 defense agreement.
That gives Trump much of the expanded Arctic military access he has argued the United States needs — without transferring Greenland to U.S. control.
The agreement also recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenlanders’ right to self-determination.
For months, Trump had publicly pushed to bring the mineral-rich island under U.S. control, arguing its location makes it critical to American national security as Russia and China compete for influence in the Arctic.
The campaign rattled Copenhagen and opened an unusually public rift inside NATO. Frederiksen had warned earlier this year that a forcible U.S. takeover would threaten the alliance itself.
Instead, months of negotiations produced a security deal all three governments could sign.
Greenland stays Greenland.
But America’s military presence is about to get much, much bigger.
Watch the moment below:
IT’S OFFICIAL: @POTUS joins the Prime Ministers of Denmark and Greenland in signing the historic security agreement 🇺🇸🇩🇰🇬🇱 https://t.co/Pab9z75yJL pic.twitter.com/5pehzBiS8i
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 22, 2026
