Reuters Exclusive Names the Two Greenland Bases US Set to Reopen Tuesday: Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig

Since President Trump announced Friday that Washington had struck a security deal with Denmark and Greenland giving the US what he called "permanent control" over the territory's security, observers have sought clarity on what that means on the ground. Reuters now has an answer, reported Monday, September 21, by Stine Jacobsen, Erin Banco and Gram Slattery: two specific sites.

The first is Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland, where the US ran the Bluie West One base until it closed in the 1950s. The town's population has since dwindled to a few dozen people, according to Reuters. The second is Mestersvig, an outpost on Greenland's east coast currently used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish special forces unit that patrols the island's coastline.

Three people familiar with the matter told Reuters the sites are part of the agreement set to be signed Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. ET at the UN General Assembly in New York. Two of those sources confirmed the specific locations. Reuters, whose reporting was carried by outlets including the Times of India, the Jerusalem Post, Channel NewsAsia, U.S. News & World Report and HuffPost, stressed that the text has not been made public and that details "are not finalized until it is signed."

Why It Matters: Scale

During the Cold War, the US ran 17 military installations across Greenland with more than 10,000 personnel stationed there, according to Reuters. Today only Pituffik Space Base remains, staffed by roughly 150 US troops. Adding Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig would triple the number of American sites on the island, even if the new footprint is nowhere close to Cold War levels.

A White House spokesperson declined to detail the agreement to Reuters but repeated a prior statement that Tuesday's signing would "secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States."

The Arctic Push Isn't Just Greenland

The base reopening isn't happening in isolation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Monday with counterparts from seven Arctic nations, according to Channel NewsAsia, which cited a State Department readout from spokesman Tommy Piggott. "Allies agreed that Arctic security requires continued investment to safeguard this vital region and deter strategic competitors," Piggott said, adding that discussions covered "developing sovereign military and economic capabilities, ensuring investment security, and funding resilient critical infrastructure."

The broader strategic frame involves China and Russia's growing interest in Arctic shipping lanes and resources, not just Greenland's mineral deposits, driving the administration's push.

Denmark's NATO Framing

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told broadcaster TV2 on Sunday that the deal ensures Arctic security "is not only Danish or American" and that "to a large extent it would be NATO that looks after the Arctic," according to the Jerusalem Post. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's office said the agreement recognizes Greenland and Denmark's sovereignty and Greenlanders' right to self-determination, per CNN.

Ulrik Pram Gad, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told the Jerusalem Post the maneuver looks like an attempt to "use this crisis to try to strengthen NATO's cohesion through Greenland." Whether that's diplomatic spin or an accurate read of the strategy is something reporters will only be able to judge once the actual text is public.

The Part Nobody's Papering Over: Greenlanders Don't Want This

U.S. News & World Report, citing Reuters, noted plainly that Trump's underlying goal of US control over Greenland "has been rejected by an overwhelming majority of Greenlanders, polling shows." Frederiksen's office insists the deal protects Greenlandic sovereignty and self-determination rights, but Greenlanders themselves haven't seen the final language either.

CNN's coverage leaned into Trump's political framing, noting the announcement lets him "tout a foreign policy achievement ahead of the midterm elections" amid backlash over the ongoing Iran conflict. That's a fair observation about timing, not a fact about the deal's substance.

What's Still Unknown

It remains unclear whether the new pact amends the existing 1951 Defense of Greenland Treaty, the legal basis for the current US presence, or replaces it outright. Denmark's and Greenland's parliaments still need to act before any deal takes legal effect, per NPR. Until the text drops Tuesday, base reopening dates, troop numbers, and funding arrangements for Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig remain unconfirmed.