President Donald Trump secured a sweeping agreement with Denmark and Greenland granting the United States permanent military rights on the strategically placed Arctic island, according to a senior U.S. official who outlined the deal to Fox News Digital.
The United States will receive permanent access, basing rights and overflight rights in Greenland.
It also will have the authority to establish additional military installations when American officials determine they are needed.
The agreement bars China, Russia and other nations outside NATO from establishing military bases or maintaining troops in Greenland.
It also limits adversaries from investing in sensitive sectors that could threaten U.S. national security.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the agreement a historic victory for the United States and the American people.
He credited Trump’s leadership and said the arrangement guarantees American security interests in the Arctic at zero cost to U.S. taxpayers.
Rubio said Greenland will remain part of North America’s strategic defense area and will exclude adversaries from the island and surrounding region.
He said the agreement permanently and completely addresses American national security concerns involving Greenland.
The agreement has no expiration date, though it does not transfer Greenland’s sovereignty to the United States.
WATCH:
Administration officials nevertheless consider its permanence central to addressing the security concerns behind Trump’s effort to acquire the territory.
“The difference here is we’re not spending any money for the right” to expand the American military presence, the senior official said.
The official added that the agreement was designed to remain effective even if Greenland eventually becomes an independent country.
“For over 100 years, Presidents have known the strategic importance of Greenland, but NONE of them were able to do anything about it. I am proud to be the President that permanently and conclusively addressed this very important situation. This is an “Infinite Life” Agreement, there is no end!” Trump wrote Friday on X.
BREAKING NEWS: I am pleased to announce that the United States of America has entered into an Agreement with The Kingdom of Denmark, and Greenland, that gives the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2026
Trump repeatedly argued that control of Greenland was necessary for American national security.
He pointed to the island’s strategic Arctic location as Russia and China expand their presence and capabilities across the region.
The United States already operates Pituffik Space Base and has maintained military access to Greenland under an agreement dating to 1951.
The new arrangement significantly expands that existing military relationship.
Why Greenland and Trumps Greenland deal is so important
-Arctic sealanes
-Golden dome
-Critical resources like rare earth minerals◾️on the map you can see the retreating icecap has opened shippinglanes for periods of the year. Greenland offers a place to monitor and restrict… pic.twitter.com/UzjXjP2e2N
— Brian McDonald B (@iamBrianBJ) September 18, 2026
Under the agreement, Denmark and Greenland would not have approval authority over additional American military installations.
The United States would consult both governments, but it could build installations when it determines they are necessary without obtaining their approval.
The administration believes a larger American military presence in Greenland could eventually contribute to Trump’s planned Golden Dome missile defense system.
Trump said the United States would immediately begin developing a large military presence in an appropriate part of Greenland.
The agreement allows only the United States and its allies to make sensitive investments on the island.
Those sectors include telecommunications infrastructure, undersea cables, ports and critical minerals.
The administration wants to prevent the kind of strategic vulnerability it believes developed around the Panama Canal, where Chinese commercial interests have raised American concerns about civilian infrastructure carrying national security consequences.
“We’re never going to face that in Greenland as a result of this,” the official told Fox News Digital.
Officials from Greenland and Denmark initially scoffed at Trump’s insistence that the United States needed to own Greenland. Denmark currently holds sovereignty over the self governing island territory.
Months of talks involving Rubio, White House advisor Stephen Miller and officials from the State Department and National Security Council produced an agreement that satisfied all sides, a second official told Fox News Digital.
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Representatives from the three countries began quiet negotiations in February.
The talks proceeded through several rounds without leaking, according to the second official.
Denmark and Greenland eventually came to view the agreement as serving their security interests as well.
“They recognize, at the end of the day, that they have a national security concern here as well,” Rubio said.
“Denmark and Greenland understand that they don’t have the financial means necessary to defend Greenland if it were to come under attack or be threatened. The United States has the power to do that.”
The agreement leaves sovereignty unchanged while giving Washington permanent military access and broad authority to expand its presence on the island.
