President Donald Trump will sign a security deal with the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland in a ceremony in New York on Tuesday while the president is in town for the annual U.N. General Assembly, a White House official confirmed to ABC News.
“The three leaders will formalize their new agreement that will secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States,” a White House official said in a statement.
Trump announced last Friday in a post on his social media platform that the agreement with Denmark gives the U.S. “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many U.S. concerns.”
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and the Faroe Islands’ Prime Minister Beinir Johannesen visit Qooqqut, Greenland, on Sept. 7, 2026.
Mads Claus Rasmussen/via Reuters
While it appears to fall short of the “Complete and Total Control” by the U.S. that Trump once called for, it does grant the U.S. ability to expand its military footprint in Greenland. A State Department official said the deal “explicitly guarantees the United States the complete ability to do what it deems is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the American continent.”
In his post last Friday, Trump said, “At my direction, we worked with representatives of Denmark and Greenland to guarantee that the United States will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland, and the United States of America.”
The announcement came after months of escalating rhetoric from the president, who has repeatedly threatened to take over the territory citing national security purposes. Trump’s threats, including refusing to rule out taking the territory by military force, sowed tension between the U.S. and its European allies and sparked consternation from Greenlanders.
Under the agreement, the State Department official said, “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.”
Despite U.S. concern, neither China nor Russia currently have significant active investments or military presences in Greenland, and prior attempts to enter sensitive sectors have been blocked.
The official also emphasized the permanence of the deal, saying it would remain fully in effect “even if Greenland becomes a fully independent country.”
Following Trump’s announcement, the government of Greenland and the Danish prime minister issued a joint statement saying that Greenland, Denmark, and the U.S., “expect to sign an agreement next week that strengthens security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic region.”
The statement did not provide specifics about the agreement but said it would need to go through “necessary parliamentary procedures to enter into force.”
In a statement, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, said: “I am pleased that there is a prospect of a good agreement for Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States. An agreement that strengthens our common security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic area and is thus also good for NATO and Europe. And an agreement that at the same time recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination.”
On Saturday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in a post to Instagram, “Next week should be a good week … For both Greenland, Denmark and the USA.”
Denmark’s Minister of Defence Jeppe Bruus Christensen, center, and Greenland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Mute B. Egede visits the NATO military exercise Arctic Shield 2026 in Narsarsuaq, Greenland, on Sept. 9, 2026. The military exercise Arctic Shield 2026 involves around 400 soldiers from about 10 NATO nations.
Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images
“How long-term uncertainty will hopefully be replaced by a binding agreement that strengthens security in the Arctic and North Atlantic and thus also our common security in NATO and Europe — with respect to the Kingdom’s red lines,” he added. “This is important at a time when the security policy situation in the Arctic has changed.”
Trump 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.”
It is not yet clear whether the president’s announcement will amend or supplement the 1951 pact, which extends as long as the North Atlantic Treaty remains in effect but explicitly recognizes Danish sovereignty over Greenland.
The direct inclusion of Greenland in the agreement appears to be a move to ensure that military guarantees for the U.S. remain even if Greenland breaks from Denmark.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the deal, calling it a “historic deal” and “a huge win for the United States and the American people.”
“Thanks to President Trump’s vision and leadership, this historic agreement permanently guarantees U.S. security interests in the Arctic at zero cost to the U.S. taxpayer,” he said. “Greenland will forever be part of the strategic defense area of North America and exclude any adversary from it and the surrounding area. This deal permanently and completely addresses our national security concerns in Greenland.”
Greenland has strategic significance for the U.S. In addition to its valuable minerals and massive oil and gas reserves. It is home to the U.S. Pituffik Space Base, the Defense Department’s northernmost base, where about 150 American troops are stationed and which serves as a first line of defense against a missile attack over the Arctic.
Trump has said the Arctic island is vital to his “Golden Dome” anti-missile concept, has argued the current U.S. presence there is insufficient to defend Greenland should Russia or China try to take it over. He asserts that neither Greenland nor the Europeans are capable of protecting it — and that only the U.S can keep it from Russian or Chinese encroachment.
