After months of threats, retorts and closed-door negotiations, the United States has reached a deal to expand its security presence in Greenland, the semiautonomous Danish territory, according to President Trump.
The specifics of the agreement, announced on Friday, were not immediately made public. But it clearly falls short of the outright American takeover that Mr. Trump had demanded, a threat that roiled the NATO alliance, of which Denmark is a member.
In a social media post, Mr. Trump said the deal gave the United States “permanent control over security, and all other needs” in Greenland. But the Danish prime minister stressed that the agreement “recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Denmark.
Mr. Trump had said since his first term that the United States wanted to acquire Greenland, and he became more insistent about it after returning to office last year. One of his aides said Mr. Trump wanted to buy the island, and another suggested that the United States could simply take it by force.
The leaders of Greenland and Denmark staunchly rejected such ideas, and European leaders grappled with how to respond to the threat to seize territory from a NATO ally. In the end, negotiators from the United States, Greenland and Denmark met in Washington for high-stakes talks.
What’s in the deal?
Mr. Trump said the agreement would enable the United States to expand its current military presence in Greenland. Under its terms, he said on social media, “no U.S. adversary can EVER have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval.”
American negotiators had insisted on veto power over any major investment deals in Greenland to box out competitors like Russia and China. Greenlanders and Danes strongly objected to that, and it was not clear how the agreement would address the issue.
Mr. Trump also said the deal ensured that the United States would “FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland,” calling it “an ‘Infinite Life’ Agreement,” even though the current pact authorizing the U.S. military presence on the island has no time limit.
Mette Frederiksen, the prime minister of Denmark, said the new deal would strengthen “our common security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic area and is therefore also good for NATO and Europe.”
Why does Trump say he wants Greenland?
Mr. Trump initially said that American ownership of the island was vital to U.S. national security. He later pitched it as a matter of global importance.
“Greenland is a big problem for us,” he said during a NATO summit in July. “We need it for protection of the world, not just the United States, and it’s very important. It doesn’t help Denmark.”
Most of Greenland is inside the Arctic Circle, where superpowers are vying for military and commercial dominance. Controlling the island would give Washington an outpost in an important naval corridor connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic, where climate change is melting the ice and making once unnavigable territory a theater of competition.
“If we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Jan. 9.
The Chinese and Russian Navies are active in the Arctic, and critical undersea communications cables have made the region a site of renewed superpower conflict.
Greenland also has huge stores of the rare-earth minerals used for making batteries, electric vehicles and other high-tech items. Currently, China dominates the global market for such minerals.
Mr. Trump said in a January interview with The New York Times that nothing short of U.S. ownership of Greenland was acceptable.
“Because that’s what I feel is psychologically needed for success,” he said. “I think that ownership gives you a thing that you can’t do, whether you’re talking about a lease or a treaty.”
Asked whether it was psychologically important to him personally or to the United States, he responded, “Psychologically important for me.”
Who controls Greenland?
Greenland is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, which colonized it more than 300 years ago. Greenland achieved home rule in 1979, taking control over most of its internal affairs.
Since 2009, Greenlanders have had the right to hold a referendum on independence. But Denmark manages Greenland’s foreign policy, defense and other matters. And the island is largely economically dependent on Denmark: Greenland receives an annual subsidy that pays for its schools, cheap gas and strong social services.
While Greenlanders are happy to do business with the United States, polls have indicated that a vast majority of the population does not want to become American.
The United States has had troops in Greenland since World War II and operates a small missile defense base there.
Under a 1951 treaty, the United States already has the right to “construct, install, maintain and operate” military bases across Greenland, “house personnel” and “control landings, takeoffs, anchorages, moorings, movements and operation of ships, aircraft and waterborne craft.”
Reporting was contributed by Jeffrey Gettleman, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Anton Troianovski and Jeanna Smialek.
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