Trump signs Greenland security agreement, defusing allied tensions

A North American Aerospace Defense Command F-16 Fighting Falcon from the South Carolina ANG’s 169th FW lands at Pituffik Space Force Base, Greenland, Oct. 7, 2025 (US Air Force).

BELFAST — US President Donald Trump sat next to the leaders of Denmark and its territory Greenland today to sign a new Arctic security agreement based on strengthening “common deterrence,” defusing at least for the time being a tense standoff amid Washington’s threat to annex the semi-autonomous island.

The joint pact was signed by Trump, Prime Minister of Greenland Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during a ceremony in New York, immediately after Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly.

“Today we are signing an even bigger and better agreement” than the 1951 defense treaty between the Kingdom of Denmark and the US, “a [new] deal that can last forever,” Frederiksen told reporters. “This deal is good for the United States, it’s good for Greenland, for Denmark, for the NATO alliance, and therefore also good for Europe.”

She added that the pact strengthens “our common deterrence” and prevents adversaries from gaining “any control or significant influence” over Greenland.

Under the deal, the US is to receive unfettered military access to Greenland and its territorial waters and can fly over, or land on, “any territory” on the island. It also allows for the US to establish a “defense area” in two Greenland locations “with modalities and technical details to be mutually agreed by the Parties.” Or, as Trump put it in a separate address at the UN General Assembly today, “We’ll be building two very major military bases.”

The agreement also, however, “reaffirm[ed] the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, and recogniz[ed] that the People of Greenland constitute a people pursuant to international law with the right to self-determination.”

Just months ago Trump threatened that sovereignty, saying the US was considering taking control of Greenland through military means. He justified the controversial stance in January by arguing that the US needs it, to stop Russia or China from occupying it.

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He did not answer when asked by a reporter today if the new agreement takes US ownership of Greenland off the table. But he did say the deal was “tremendous for Europe and for the United States … and for Greenland it’s going to be incredible.”

The signing of the agreement closes out weeks of negotiations and, publicly at least, reduces political tension between the three signatories. Rasmus Søndergaard, senior researcher for foreign policy and diplomacy at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told Breaking Defense ahead of the signing ceremony that it looked like “worst outcomes have been averted.”

At the height of the territorial dispute, Frederiksen predicted that a transatlantic security crisis could arrive. “If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops — including NATO and thus the security that has been established since the end of the Second World War.”

She sounded a very different tone today. “This agreement also recognizes the United States defining historical and ongoing contributions to the security and defense of Greenland and the rest of the North Atlantic Treaty area, including, by the way, the sacrifices and billions of dollars spent, and the role that United States military plays in defense, when it comes to Greenland now and also in the future,” she said.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomed the agreement with a post on X , saying that it “enhances our collective security.”

Based on recent statements in the lead up to today’s agreement, Søndergaard said that Trump is possibly “overselling a little bit, the degree to which the US gets control” of the Arctic territory, or even continuing to negotiate in public, through the statements.

From “what I can tell, he has not achieved” control of Greenland from this agreement, said Søndergaard. “Quite the contrary. However, he’s trying … to pitch to a domestic audience, in particular, this agreement on increased military presence as some victory that was only possible according” to his approach.

As for the new military bases, the agreement stipulates one could be located in Narsarsuaq, a southern part of the Arctic territory, and another on Mestersvig, on its east coast. (The agreement also calls for the modernization and expansion of US Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, which currently supports DoD early warning and missile defense capabilities.)

“We’ve seen US officials measuring up the [Narsarsuaq] runway there, so [that’s] a pretty clear indication,” of interest in reopening and potentially expanding the base, explained Søndergaard. He noted that the second location is of interest to Washington “when it comes to surveilling potential Russian activity down the east coast of Greenland.”

In the end, despite how Trump could present the apparent military expansion as a major success, it does not look like the US is entering a deal that is “substantially different from the existing 1951 [defense treaty] agreement,” allowing it to build up forces on Greenland, according to Søndergaard.

2025 年 10 月 7 日，一架隶属于南卡罗来纳州国民警卫队第 169 战斗机联队的北美防空司令部 F-16 战隼战斗机降落在格陵兰岛皮图菲克太空部队基地（美国空军）。

贝尔法斯特——美国总统唐纳德·特朗普今天与丹麦及其属地格陵兰岛的领导人并肩而坐，签署了一项新的北极安全协议，该协议旨在加强“共同威慑”，至少暂时缓解了华盛顿威胁吞并这个半自治岛屿而导致的紧张对峙局面。

在特朗普于联合国大会发表讲话后，特朗普与格陵兰首相延斯-弗雷德里克·尼尔森和丹麦首相梅特·弗雷德里克森在纽约举行的仪式上签署了这项联合协议。

“今天我们签署的协议比1951年丹麦王国与美国之间的防务条约更大、更好，”弗雷德里克森告诉记者，“这是一项可以永久有效的新协议。这项协议对美国有利，对格陵兰岛有利，对丹麦有利，对北约联盟有利，因此对欧洲也有利。”

她补充说，该条约加强了“我们的共同威慑”，并防止对手对格陵兰岛获得“任何控制权或重大影响”。

根据这项协议，美国将获得不受限制的军事准入权，可以进入格陵兰岛及其领海，并可飞越或降落在该岛的“任何区域”。协议还允许美国在格陵兰岛的两个地点建立“防御区”，“具体方式和技术细节由双方协商确定”。或者，正如特朗普今天在联合国大会上发表的另一次讲话中所说，“我们将建造两个非常重要的军事基地。”

然而，该协议也“重申了丹麦王国的主权和领土完整，并承认格陵兰人民是根据国际法享有自决权的人民”。

就在几个月前，特朗普还威胁要放弃对格陵兰岛的主权，声称美国正在考虑通过军事手段控制该岛。今年1月，他为这一备受争议的立场辩护，称美国需要格陵兰岛，以阻止俄罗斯或中国占领该岛。

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除了对外销售，拉斐尔的模式还实现了技术转让和本地工程，并为北约合作伙伴提供了一个模板。

今天，当记者问他新协议是否排除了美国对格陵兰岛的所有权时，他没有回答。但他确实表示，这项协议“对欧洲和美国来说意义重大……对格陵兰岛来说更是不可思议”。

该协议的签署结束了数周的谈判，至少在公开场合，缓解了三个签署国之间的政治紧张局势。丹麦国际问题研究所外交政策与外交事务高级研究员拉斯穆斯·桑德加德在签字仪式前告诉《防务新闻》，看起来“最糟糕的情况已经避免了”。

在领土争端最激烈的时候，弗雷德里克森预言跨大西洋安全危机可能会到来。“如果美国选择对另一个北约国家发动军事攻击，那么一切都将停止——包括北约本身，以及自二战结束以来建立起来的安全体系。”

她今天的语气截然不同。“这项协议也承认美国对格陵兰岛和北大西洋公约组织其他地区的安全和防御所做出的历史性和持续性贡献，包括为此付出的牺牲和数十亿美元的投入，以及美国军队在格陵兰岛当前和未来防御中所发挥的作用，”她说。

北约秘书长马克·吕特在 X 上发表文章对该协议表示欢迎，称其“增强了我们的集体安全”。

根据最近在达成今天协议之前的声明，桑德加德表示，特朗普可能“有点夸大了美国对北极地区的控制程度”，甚至可能通过这些声明继续在公开场合进行谈判。

桑德加德说：“据我所知，他并没有通过这项协议控制格陵兰岛。恰恰相反。然而，他正试图……向国内民众，特别是向国内民众，兜售这项增加军事存在的协议，将其包装成只有按照他的方式才能取得的胜利。”

至于新建的军事基地，协议规定其中一个可以位于北极地区南部的纳尔萨克，另一个可以位于东海岸的梅斯特斯维格。（协议还要求对位于格陵兰的美国皮图菲克太空基地进行现代化改造和扩建，该基地目前为美国国防部提供预警和导弹防御能力。）

桑德加德解释说：“我们看到美国官员正在测量纳尔萨克机场的跑道，这清楚地表明了他们有意重新开放并可能扩建该基地。” 他指出，华盛顿之所以对第二个地点感兴趣，“是因为那里可以监视俄罗斯在格陵兰岛东海岸的潜在活动。”

最终，尽管特朗普可能将表面上的军事扩张描绘成一项重大成就，但根据桑德加德的说法，美国似乎并没有达成一项“与现有的 1951 年[防御条约]协议有实质性区别”的协议，从而允许其在格陵兰岛集结兵力。