The Greenland Deal Is a Huge Success

Ignore the naysayers: President Trump’s successful conclusion of the Greenland deal with the governments of Denmark and Greenland is a huge win for the United States, and also one that will improve Danish, Greenlandic and, indeed, trans-Atlantic security.

This is a major diplomatic achievement. It expands U.S. defense areas in Greenland, prohibits a non-NATO military presence, and protects critical parts of the Greenlandic economy that adversarial governments could otherwise use for dual-use purposes.

The agreement contains language clarifying the core U.S. interests at stake and the rationale behind increasing activities in the Arctic, recognizing “the security challenges in the Arctic and the High North posed by adversaries’ increased military activity and growing strategic interest in the region” and that “the security situation in the Arctic is changing and that more efforts are needed to ensure security there in the future.”

Critics have said the deal is the same as the one we had before. Not true. The 2026 agreement augments, updates and improves the 1951 treaty, expanding U.S. military infrastructure on the island with two new bases at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig. It also prohibits Russian or Chinese military bases in Greenland, and creates a mechanism for the governments in Copenhagen, Nuuk and Washington to veto investment in critical parts of the Greenlandic economy. Importantly, the new agreement and its provisions will continue to apply even if Greenland becomes independent.

The strategic rationale for the United States to maintain a military presence in Greenland and secure it from adversarial influence should be obvious. Greenland commands the approaches to the North Atlantic and North America, forming the northwestern end of the Greenland-Iceland-U.K. (GIUK) Gap through which Russian ships and submarines entering the North Atlantic pass. At more than 836,000 square miles, Greenland is a major geographic shaper of the Arctic region, and U.S. radars based in Greenland play an essential role in detecting and intercepting any hostile movements toward the U.S. mainland.

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Indeed, the strategic rationale for American military presence in Greenland is strongest when considered in the context of great power competition. The Arctic is the shortest and most likely path for strategic bombers or intercontinental ballistic missiles heading toward the United States, and Greenland in particular lies in the shortest and most likely path for these systems when fired from Russia. Pituffik Space Base, an existing U.S. military site in Greenland, supports American missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance.

Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, with significant self-rule but responsibility for defense resting with the Danish government in Copenhagen. Russia and China have consistently demonstrated interest in the island and surrounding region, with Chinese investments in particular targeting Greenland’s key economic sectors and infrastructure.

To combat this, the deal also creates a mechanism for the three parties to deny Chinese or Russian investment in key Greenlandic sectors such as ports, airports and mines. Greenland is estimated to possess 1.5 million tons of critical mineral reserves. Denmark had already played a positive role in preventing malign investment in critical sectors of the Greenlandic economy, but the new deal formalizes the need and mechanism for doing this and gives the United States a say.

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Denmark has long been a very strong and reliable ally of the United States. Danish troops served in combat roles alongside Americans in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks and suffered one of the highest casualty rates in the war among our NATO allies. Denmark is one of the highest spenders on defense within the NATO alliance, had already reached 3.2 percent of gross domestic product as of 2025, and is projected to reach the mandated 3.5 percent spending level in the near future — among the first NATO allies to do so.

Much of Denmark’s new spending is going into capabilities relevant to defending its Arctic territory. The successful conclusion of this agreement, of course, will create new avenues for Arctic security cooperation between the American and Danish militaries.

The American, Danish and Greenlandic peoples have a shared interest in a secure Arctic where Russia is unable to threaten North America or Europe and where China (a non-Arctic state) is unable to meddle where it doesn’t belong.

This deal secures the sovereign security and economic interests of Washington, Copenhagen, and Nuuk and helps cement trans-Atlantic security cooperation in the Arctic for decades to come.