Trump takes 'permanent control' of Greenland's security with sweeping order establishing new military bases on the frozen south coast

Sign up HERE to our DC Insider newsletter - your guide to what's rocking Washington, rattling the White House and setting tongues wagging on the Hill See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 12:06 EDT, 22 September 2026 | Updated: 12:11 EDT, 22 September 2026 President Donald Trump has taken a 'permanent' stake in Greenland with a new security deal that will enable the US to exclusively establish new military bases on the strategic Arctic island.Beyond Pituffik Space Base, an established outpost that enables US early warning systems, the US will be allowed to open new sites across the hostile landscape.The deal Trump signed with Danish leaders on Tuesday also bars other nations, most notably Russia and China, from establishing military bases on Greenland, two nations that similarly harbor Arctic ambitions. The deal serves as a sort of consolation prize for Trump, who has long expressed his desire to acquire the island either by purchasing, annexing it or taking it by force with the US military.Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, holds incredible strategic importance to the US. Located in the North Atlantic, the island sits at a critical chokepoint where Russian and Chinese vessels have increasingly been spotted. Danish PM Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's PM Jens-Frederik Nielsen both attended the signing ceremony with Trump. 'So this is tremendous for Europe and for the United States, for everybody, and for Greenland,' the president said, adding it will be a 'long-term, fantastic relationship.'Nielsen told Trump after the signing: 'Our security is your security.' President Donald Trump celebrated the new security deal with Greenland and Denmark during a signing ceremony at the UN General Assembly meeting on Tuesday The deal will allow the US to establish new military bases on Greenland, giving the Pentagon a stronger foothold in the Arctic The agreement, and future US military bases which will be built in Greenland, will give NATO a more robust launching point into the Arctic. Trump first announced the deal on social media last week. The president said then the agreement gives the US 'permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many US concerns.''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, calling it an 'infinite life' agreement.'Additionally, from now on, no US adversary can EVER have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval,' he claimed.The deal also falls short of ceding control of the territory to the US despite Trump's threats to take it by force. 'No, I never take military force off the table,' Trump said when pressed on his desire to acquire the island in a 2025 interview with NBC News. 'But I think there's a good possibility that we could do it without military force.'Trump framed his push to acquire the island as a national security imperative, citing Greenland's strategic position in the Arctic and China's and Russia's ambitions to expand their presence in the region. Northern Command boss General Gregory M Guillot has noted how Greenland could host part of an array of radar stations in the Arctic that includes outposts in Alaska and Canada. He has also said that the US seeks a deepwater port and a base for US special forces on the island.Trump first floated the idea of bringing Greenland into the US sphere of influence during his first term in 2019.