Trump's 'Golden Dome' plan gets one-line treatment in Greenland accord

Deal permits two new US bases in Greenland

President Donald Trump had framed Greenland as central to his futuristic “Golden Dome” missile defense plan, calling the Arctic territory essential to protecting the United States against missile attacks. The defense agreement signed Tuesday by the US, Denmark and Greenland at the UN General Assembly mentions the project only once and contains no concrete proposal for it.

Trump had tried for months to purchase or annex Greenland outright, citing what he said were national security concerns. He pointed to the island’s strategic defense location and described it as vulnerable to adversaries including Russia and China. Greenland also holds vast and largely untapped reserves of rare earth minerals — many of which are crucial for technologies including mobile phones and electric vehicles — which Trump cited among his reasons for a major US footprint there. Trump said last week the new deal came with “no cost to the United States.”

US President Donald Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen signed the agreement at a ceremony at the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, ending more than a year of tension over the Arctic territory. At the signing, Trump said: “We will immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations.” He added: “We going to have a tremendous relationship, a secure relationship. This is tremendous for Europe and for the United States, for everybody, and for Greenland it’s going to be incredible.”

The accord permits the United States to build two new military bases in Greenland — at Narsarsuaq in the south and at Mestersvig in the east. Narsarsuaq has deep-water access and a large runway that US military engineers were surveying last week, according to Danish media. The Mestersvig outpost is remote, far less developed, and currently used by a Danish naval dog sled unit.

The “modalities and technical details” of the new bases are yet to be confirmed and, according to the deal, must be mutually agreed by all parties. The accord also allows Washington to “modernise and expand its activities” at its existing Pituffik Space Base in Greenland’s northwest. That base currently has more than 100 US military personnel permanently stationed there.

The deal amends and updates a 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. That earlier pact already allowed Washington to send as many troops as it wanted to Greenland, a provision the new agreement leaves intact.

The agreement also states that “no state that is not a member of Nato shall be allowed to establish its own manned or unmanned military installations in Greenland nor shall they be allowed a persistent presence of military forces in Greenland.” It confirms Greenland would remain in NATO if it gains independence from Denmark.

Frederiksen described the signing as a “milestone in our long-standing co-operation,” saying: “Seventy-five years ago we entered into an agreement about the defence of Greenland. Today, we’re signing an even bigger and better agreement — a deal that can last forever.” She called the deal “good for the US, Denmark and Greenland” and also for Europe and NATO, and stressed that the agreement “respects sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, as well as Greenland’s right to self-determination.”

Nielsen called the deal a “win-win-win” and said: “For Greenland, it is not only an agreement about us, it is [an] agreement with us. It takes into account the people of Greenland, our rights, our livelihoods and the development of our country.” He added: “Greenland matters for North American security and for transatlantic security,” saying NATO had a key role to play in the North Atlantic in a changing security situation.

A NATO spokesperson welcomed the deal shortly after the signing, saying it would “help advance security, stability and cooperation in this vital region.”

Trump’s earlier threats to “take” Greenland had prompted Greenlanders, Danes and European leaders to issue a joint statement saying his words “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.” The joint statement came during the year-long standoff ahead of Tuesday’s signing.