A view of Nuuk, Greenland, on Jan. 13, 2026. Marko Djurica/Reuters
A top Danish official said on Saturday that an agreement announced by U.S. President Donald Trump that the United States would handle security for Greenland would lead to a better outcome in the region.
Both Denmark and Greenland, an autonomous island that is Danish territory, expressed hope that the deal would end any uncertainty around the island’s security.
On Saturday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said that the deal between Denmark, Greenland, and the United States could be signed this week, which comes as foreign delegations head to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly.
“Next week could be a good week—for Greenland, Denmark, and the USA alike,” he said in a statement posted to social media. “A time of uncertainty will hopefully give way to a binding agreement that strengthens security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic—and thereby our shared security within NATO and Europe—while respecting the Kingdom’s red lines.”
“This is important at a time when the security landscape, including in the Arctic, has changed.”
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a statement last week that the proposed deal “recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination.”
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Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen indicated the deal would provide a favorable outcome for Greenland’s residents.
“And an agreement that at the same time recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination,” Frederiksen said in a statement.
“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 said.
As part of the deal, no U.S. adversary such as China or Russia would be able to have base in Greenland, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a Fox News interview.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance (2nd R) and Second Lady Usha Vance (R), joined by national security adviser Mike Waltz (2nd L), tour the U.S. military’s Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on March 28, 2025. Jim Watson/Pool/Getty Images
Trump also wrote that United States will now start the process of implementing a military presence around Greenland and will work with residents of the island on its development. Previous U.S. presidents were aware of Greenland’s strategic importance, he added.
With his return to the White House in 2025, Trump initially called on Denmark to sell the island to the United States and said Greenland is crucial to U.S. security, which prompted criticism from European Union leaders and individual nations. At one point, Trump warned Denmark could face a 25 percent import tax on goods unless it ceded the island to U.S. control.
Denmark and Greenland repeatedly stated that the island is not for sale even as Trump said the island is needed to deal with military threats posed by Russia and China.
Last March, Vice President JD Vance visited American troops at the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, where he argued Denmark was failing to protect and invest in the island amid Russian and Chinese threats.