US, Denmark and Greenland to sign security deal on Tuesday

The United States, Denmark and Greenland are set to sign their previously announced security agreement on Greenland this Tuesday, with the signing taking place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Denmark's government has confirmed.

US President Donald Trump said last Friday that the arrangement would give America "permanent control" over security matters concerning Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic that he has long sought to acquire.

The office of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she, Trump and Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen would sign the agreement at 1430 GMT at the UN building in New York.

Denmark stresses sovereignty is recognised

Frederiksen said Monday that the agreement, whose text has not yet been published, "recognises" the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, as well as the Greenlandic people's right to self-determination. Speaking to Danish radio DR from New York, she called it "a good agreement from a Danish point of view," adding that benefits for the Nordic countries and Arctic security would also benefit NATO and Europe more broadly.

Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has repeatedly insisted that the United States needs control over Greenland for strategic reasons, alarming NATO ally Denmark and triggering strong pushback from within the alliance.

According to Washington, the agreement will prevent China and Russia from establishing military bases in Greenland or making sensitive investments there without consent.

Frederiksen noted that the importance of the Arctic and North Atlantic as a defence zone for all NATO members has long been an agreed point with the Americans.