By Gram Slattery, Erin Banco, Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Stine Jacobsen
WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – The United States, Denmark and Greenland have entered into an agreement for the US to develop a significant military presence on Greenland, while prohibiting US adversaries from building their own bases on the island, Donald Trump said on Friday.
In a Truth Social post, the US president wrote that no US enemies would be able to make sensitive investments on the island without the approval of the United States and that the agreement had no expiry date.
“At my direction, we worked with representatives of Denmark and Greenland to guarantee that the United States will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland, and the United States of America,” Trump wrote.
Earlier on Friday, Reuters exclusively reported that the US and Denmark were closing in on a deal that would result in an increased US military presence in Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, but would stop well short of Trump’s long-held dream of acquiring the island for the United States.
The US already has nearly total overflight and basing rights in Greenland due to a 1951 treaty.
Trump’s announcement suggests he was nonetheless pleased with the outcome of the negotiations and that he might not revive his territorial claims, at least in the near future. He said, without elaborating, that the US would soon be rolling out a large military presence on the island, which already hosts one Space Force base in its remote northwest.
“This is a dream come true for the United States of America,” Trump wrote.
EXTENT OF AGREEMENT REMAINS UNCLEAR
The Danish prime minister’s office said on Friday that the agreement would strengthen North Atlantic and Arctic security.
Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a statement that the agreement recognized Greenland’s interests and the Arctic island’s place in international cooperation. “This benefits us all,” he said.
Much was unclear as of Friday night, including whether any new US bases would be constructed as a result of the agreement. Trump’s Truth Social posts about negotiations or agreements often lack context or specifics.
Imran Bayoumi, a former Pentagon official now with the Atlantic Council think tank, said it would be new if the US can build bases without the approval of Greenland or Denmark but that largely “it seems that Washington could have achieved a lot of these objectives through diplomacy and dialogue without straining the broader US-NATO relationship.”
It was also unclear how the agreement would be received in Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. The island’s residents aspire to independence and have bristled at US attempts to assert control.
In a separate statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the deal “permanently and completely” addressed Washington’s national security concerns with respect to the island.
“Greenland will forever be part of the strategic defense area of North America and exclude any adversary from it and the surrounding area,” he wrote.
A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss specific terms, said the deal prohibits non-NATO countries from building a base in Greenland and will allow only the US and its allies to make unspecified “sensitive investments.” The official said the agreement grants the US permanent access, basing and overflight rights, and would continue to apply even if Greenland becomes independent.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery and Erin Banco in Washington and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen; Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Idrees Ali in Washington and Louise Breusch Rasmussen in Copenhagen; Editing by Don Durfee and Rosalba O’Brien)
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