Deal names two new US bases, adds Greenland to proposed Golden Dome

President Trump signed the agreement with Greenland and Denmark’s leaders at a ceremony on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The accord ends a monthslong standoff that had strained Washington’s relations with European allies. It addresses the central question of ownership that has defined the dispute, ruling out the U.S. acquisition Trump has repeatedly demanded. The text emphasizes Danish sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as Greenlandic right to self-determination.

The agreement builds on a 1951 defense treaty between the U.S. and Denmark but adds provisions including more significant buy-in from Greenland as a self-governing territory. Under the 1951 treaty, the U.S. military had almost unlimited permission to operate in Greenland, so long as operations did not impinge on Danish sovereignty or freedom of movement. During World War II and the Cold War, the U.S. maintained more than 30 military bases and installations on the island.

The new deal reaffirms the U.S. right to station troops and build bases but specifies two sites where the U.S. military will establish a presence in the short term. One site, Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland, was home to a U.S. air base built during World War II and abandoned in the 1950s. The other, Mestersvig, is a military outpost currently used by the Danish special forces’ Sirius Dogsled Patrol. The U.S. currently operates one base on the island — Pituffik Space Base in the northwest — housing roughly 150 troops.

The agreement explicitly includes Greenland in Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” antimissile shield, intended to protect the U.S. homeland. It also ensures that no hostile states — specified as non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization or non-European Union members or partners — can establish military bases or invest in sensitive infrastructure in Greenland.

The deal addresses Trump’s stated concerns about alleged Chinese and Russian espionage in Greenland by committing Denmark to work closely with U.S. authorities on the issue.

Trump has said the new deal gives the U.S. “permanent control over security and all other needs” in Greenland, in perpetuity. The deal has no expiration date, and — unlike the 1951 treaty, which was contingent on Greenland being part of the Kingdom of Denmark — it will remain in force beyond a potential successful Greenlandic bid for independence.