The United States, Denmark and Greenland signed a trilateral security agreement in New York on 22 September 2026, on the margins of the UN General Assembly, substantially expanding the American military presence on the Arctic island while both Washington and Copenhagen insisted the deal leaves Danish sovereignty over Greenland intact. President Donald Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen all signed the text, which amends and supplements the two countries’ original 1951 defence agreement.
What the deal changes
The agreement authorises the United States to expand and modernise its existing Pituffik Space Base and to build new defence areas at Narsarsuaq in the south and Mestersvig in the east, with a process for adding further sites later. It gives US aircraft and submarines wide access to Greenlandic airspace and territorial waters, sets up a screening mechanism to block non-NATO investment and military activity on the island without unanimous consent of all three parties, and carries no expiry date, according to the text published by the White House. Trump told the UN General Assembly the agreement hands the US “permanent control over security and all other needs on that territory” and said no US adversary would be allowed to build a military presence there or make sensitive investments “without our express written approval.”
Framed as a shared, lasting arrangement
Frederiksen described the accord as “a deal that can last forever,” signalling an attempt to close months of tension after Trump had previously floated the idea of the US acquiring Greenland outright. Nielsen called it a “win-win-win,” telling reporters that “your security is our security, and our security is your security.” The text also references a future US missile-defence shield, sometimes called the “Golden Dome,” that could be based in Greenland, and includes language recognising Greenland’s right to self-determination even as it commits any future independent Greenland to honour the pact so long as it stays within NATO.
Why it matters
The agreement formalises a far larger American military footprint in the Arctic at a time of rising competition with Russia and China over shipping routes and resources opening up as ice retreats. By tying Greenland’s long-term security arrangements to Washington rather than leaving them solely to Copenhagen, the deal also reshapes a relationship that had been strained since Trump’s earlier remarks about acquiring the territory, even as questions remain about how Greenlanders themselves will be consulted as the base network grows.
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