WASHINGTON—President Trump said the U.S. and Denmark reached an agreement that allows for more American forces in Greenland, though it stops short of the self-governing island’s takeover that he envisioned since the start of his second term.
“The United States will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland,” Trump wrote Friday on social media. “We will immediately begin the process of developing a large Military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland, of which there are many. We will work with the people of Greenland in its development and construction.”
The governments of Greenland and Denmark, which has sovereignty over the island, confirmed they would sign the agreement during the United Nations General Assembly next week.
“It is gratifying that we are about to enter into an agreement that ensures and strengthens the security of Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark, the United States and the Western alliance,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland’s leader, said “the agreement recognizes Greenland’s interests and our place in international cooperation. This is to the benefit of us all.”
The U.S. will have a permanent military presence on Greenland, even if it becomes an independent nation, allowing for an increase in the number of bases there, a State Department official said. The agreement also bans countries who aren’t part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—notably China and Russia—from establishing their own base or making investments on the island that threaten U.S. security, the official said.
“Greenland will forever be part of the strategic defense area of North America and exclude any adversary from it and the surrounding area,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
The deal Trump describes falls short of his stated desire for Greenland to become sovereign U.S. territory. It instead tracks more closely with Denmark’s counteroffer to enhance the U.S. military presence on the island and give the U.S. preferential business deals. It reinforces concessions to the U.S. similar to what already existed in a 2004 treaty, which gave the military broad freedom to operate on the ice-covered island.
Greenland, as part of Denmark, is already protected NATO territory. Allies were incensed when Trump raised the possibility of a military operation against a fellow NATO member to seize the territory.
Denmark had already blocked NATO adversaries from making sensitive business investments in Greenland, especially for rare earths, and was unlikely to allow countries like China and Russia to establish a military base on allied territory, analysts said. Long before Trump expressed a desire to obtain the island, Denmark blocked Chinese investments there.
Successive U.S.-Danish agreements, dating back to the early months of Nazi Germany’s occupation of Denmark, have given the American military broad rights to station troops, build bases, operate ports or fly warplanes in Greenland.
The U.S. has about 150 troops in Greenland stationed at Pituffik Space Base and already has broad operational freedom, U.S. and Danish officials have said. The U.S. and Danish jet fighters are currently participating in a military exercise in Greenland.
Vice President JD Vance visited the facility last year as the White House ramped up its campaign to control the island and its roughly 56,000 inhabitants. Polling shows Greenlanders consistently resisting any efforts to officially join the U.S.
Write to Alexander Ward at alex.ward@wsj.com
