Trump Announces 'Permanent' Greenland Security Deal, But Denmark and Greenland Say Signing Comes Next Week

President Donald Trump announced Friday, September 18, that the United States has reached an agreement with Denmark and Greenland giving Washington "permanent control over security, and all other needs" on the Arctic island.

"There will be NO COST to the United States!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. He said the deal guarantees the U.S. will "FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland" and that no U.S. adversary can "EVER have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval."

A senior U.S. official told Fox News Digital the arrangement grants permanent access, basing and overflight rights, plus the ability to build additional military installations as needed. It bars China, Russia and other non-NATO countries from stationing troops or bases there, and restricts adversary investment in sensitive sectors.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News Digital the deal "permanently guarantees U.S. security interests in the Arctic at zero cost to the U.S. taxpayer" and that Greenland "will forever be part of the strategic defense area of North America."

Trump has been pushing to acquire or effectively control Greenland since early in his second term. Vice President JD Vance traveled to the island in March 2025, and Vance and Rubio met with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Rasmussen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen in January after months of tension over the potential U.S. acquisition, according to reporting aggregated by Ground News.

The catch: nobody has signed anything yet

Following his post, the Greenland government and the Danish Prime Minister's Office released a joint statement saying Denmark and Greenland "expect to sign" a new security agreement with the United States on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly next week, according to the Daily Wire.

That statement describes the deal as one that will "strengthen security in the Arctic and North Atlantic" while "preserving Danish sovereignty" over Greenland and the territory's right to self-determination. Trump's claim of "permanent control over security, and all other needs" uses notably different language.

Ground News, tracking coverage across the political spectrum, flagged that as of these reports, neither Denmark nor Greenland had released the agreement's actual text or issued their own detailed statement matching Trump's characterization. Ground News also noted the announcement appears to contradict Nielsen's prior public position that Greenland's sovereignty is non-negotiable.

CTV News, citing Reuters, framed its entire report around the word "claims" in the headline, reporting what Trump said rather than treating it as independently confirmed fact. Fox News Digital's account, by contrast, relied on an unnamed "senior U.S. official" for the operational details about basing and overflight rights, details that go well beyond what Trump's own Truth Social post specified.

Why Greenlanders might not be celebrating

A January poll found 85% of Greenlanders opposed the idea of joining the United States, according to Ground News. Greenland has its own government, and Nielsen has previously insisted sovereignty isn't up for negotiation.

If the final signed text matches the joint Danish-Greenlandic statement, meaning it preserves Danish sovereignty and Greenlandic self-determination while just expanding U.S. basing rights, that's a very different outcome than what Trump described on Truth Social. If it doesn't, Greenlanders and Danes have reason to ask why their own government's public description was softer than the American president's.

On the substance, the underlying strategic logic is sound. Greenland sits on major Arctic shipping lanes and holds mineral resources China and Russia have both eyed. Locking adversaries out of basing rights and sensitive investment there, at no cost to American taxpayers, is a straightforward national security win. Rubio's framing of this as addressing a concern presidents have flagged "for over 100 years" is accurate. Arctic strategic competition with Russia and China is real and has been building for years.

The unresolved question is simple: does the agreement Trump described on social media match the document Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. actually sign at the United Nations next week? Nobody, including the two governments involved, has released the text. Until they do, or until the signing happens as the joint statement promises, "permanent" and "forever" are Trump's words, not confirmed treaty language.