After months of talk about seizing the Arctic island, President Trump says a deal gives the US lasting security control — but no land changes hands and the text is still unpublished.
The United States and Denmark say they have agreed on a security arrangement for Greenland, ending a months-long dispute that began when President Donald Trump threatened to take the Arctic territory by force.
Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. It governs most of its own affairs, but defence and foreign policy remain tied to Copenhagen.
What each side says it contains
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the agreement gives the US "permanent control over security, and all other needs" in Greenland, and that it came at "no cost to the United States". He said no US adversary would be allowed to keep a military presence there or make sensitive investments without written American approval.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen issued a joint statement welcoming the deal, saying it strengthens shared security in the Arctic and North Atlantic while recognising the Kingdom's sovereignty and the Greenlandic people's right to self-determination.
Nielsen said the arrangement "recognises Greenland's interests and our place in international co-operation".
The two leaders said the deal is expected to be signed next week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and that it must then pass through parliamentary procedures before it takes effect.
A spokesperson for NATO, the Western military alliance, said the bloc welcomed the agreement.
What is still unclear
No text has been published. An unnamed US State Department official described some provisions: permanent American access, basing and overflight rights; the power to build further military structures without approval from Denmark or Greenland; a ban on non-NATO countries building bases; and restrictions on investment by adversaries in sensitive sectors. The official named Russia and China. The same official said the deal would survive even if Greenland became independent.
Because the document has not been released, it is not clear how far it goes beyond a 1951 agreement that already allows the US to station troops in Greenland. Washington already keeps more than 100 permanent personnel at its Pituffik base in the north-west of the island.
Reaction on the island
Some Greenlanders remain cautious. MP Naaja Nathanielsen called it news many had hoped for, but insisted any agreement must protect self-determination. Former politician Aaja Chemnitz said she would wait for the final text, adding: "I don't have much confidence in Trump."
Danish commentary has read the outcome as a quiet win for Copenhagen, since no territory changes hands. The newspaper Berlingske ran the headline: "Don't tell Trump that it's the Kingdom of Denmark that has won."
Trump has argued Greenland is vital to his proposed Golden Dome missile defence plan and has pointed to the island's largely untapped rare earth minerals, which are used in phones and electric vehicles — a reminder to resource-rich countries like Ghana of how mineral wealth shapes big-power politics.
Reported first by The Ghana Report on 2026-09-19. This article was written for our readers based on that report. Follow the link for the original coverage.
