USA · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Donald Trump Signs Arctic Security Agreement With Denmark And Greenland At UN General Assembly
Trump, Danish PM Frederiksen, and Greenland PM Nielsen sign Arctic security pact at UNGA Agreement authorizes a permanent U.S. military presence in Greenland with two new bases
Whether the deal is truly new or just a continuation.
11 of 12 outlets skipped it: deal remains fully in effect even if Greenland becomes independent.
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CNBC
“what he described as "permanent control over security, and all other needs"”Read the original ↗
CNBC amplifies Trump’s "permanent control" claim, while the BBC stresses that critics see it as almost a carbon copy.
UN Deal, Permanent Control
President Donald Trump signed an agreement with Denmark and Greenland aimed at strengthening Arctic and North Atlantic security, easing tensions over his repeated calls for Greenland to become part of the United States.
Trump signed the deal Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, and Trump told the UN on Tuesday morning that the agreement gives the U.S. "permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many U.S. concerns."
A White House official said the agreement would "secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States," and 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."
The agreement came after months of escalating rhetoric in which Trump repeatedly threatened to take over the territory for national security purposes, and the sources describe the deal as formalized in a ceremony in New York on Tuesday while Trump was in town for the annual U.N. General Assembly.
Two Bases, New Footprint
The agreement includes plans for the United States to expand its military presence in Greenland, with Trump saying, "We will immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations. We'll be building two very major military bases."
The sources describe one planned site as Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland, where the population has dwindled to a few dozen after the United States closed its Bluie West One base in the 1950s, and the sources describe the other planned site as Mestersvig on the east coast used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol.
The Al Jazeera report says the U.S. will open two military bases in Greenland as part of the deal, and it adds that the agreement text has not yet been officially publicised.
The sources also describe the deal as giving the U.S. a veto over adversaries establishing a military presence or making sensitive investments in Greenland without Washington's express written approval, and they frame that as a way to prevent non-U.S. and non-allied footholds in Greenland.
Sovereignty, Veto, and Response
Greenland and Denmark sought to present the agreement as compatible with sovereignty and self-determination, and Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said, "The agreement recognises the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination." Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the agreement strengthens common security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic area and is "thus also good for NATO and Europe," while also saying it recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination.
“"The agreement recognises the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination."”
The sources describe the agreement as requiring "express written approval" for any military presence or sensitive investments by adversaries, and a State Department official said the deal would remain fully in effect even if Greenland becomes a fully independent country. The sources also describe a Russian response, with the Atalayar account saying Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed minutes after the signing that Arctic cooperation is "completely off the agenda" due to Western Arctic countries' refusal to work with Russia.