Greenland, Denmark say Trump deal won't compromise sovereignty

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark and Greenland said Saturday an agreement with the United States would not compromise Greenland’s sovereignty, after President Donald Trump said the deal would give Washington “permanent control” over the Arctic island’s security, leaving its precise scope unclear.

The U.S., Denmark and Greenland said late Friday they entered an agreement for the U.S. to ‌develop a significant military presence on Greenland, while prohibiting U.S. adversaries from building bases on the island.

Key details of the deal were not made public, including the degree of U.S. military presence in the self-governing Danish territory and whether formal power over foreign policy and resources would be ceded to Washington.

Denmark and Greenland expressed hope that the deal, which is expected to be signed during the U.N. General Assembly this week, would end months of uncertainty triggered by Trump’s threats to seize control of Greenland.

“Next week could be a good week — for Greenland, Denmark, and the United States,” Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in a statement posted Saturday on Facebook.

“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 (Danish) Kingdom’s red lines,” he said.

Denmark and Greenland repeatedly insisted that Washington respect the sovereignty of the Danish kingdom and accept that Greenland is not for sale.

Trump's vision for Greenland deal

Trump said late Friday on social media that under the deal, the U.S. “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.”

The deal “gives the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland,” he said, adding no adversary would ever be permitted to have a base or military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments there, without Washington’s express written approval.

Trump made the announcement after Reuters exclusively reported that the U.S. and Denmark were closing in on a deal.

"This is probably not the end of President Trump's ambitions for Greenland and certainly not the end of US strategic interest in the territory and its resources," said Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, a political science professor at the University of Copenhagen.

If Copenhagen cedes any formal authority to Washington, it raises the question in Greenland of whether "this is the beginning of replacing the colonial relationship with Denmark with a colonial relationship to the United States," he said.

Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said Saturday that he was pleased with the proposed deal: “The agreement recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination,” he said in a post on Facebook.

Trump’s threats triggered a diplomatic crisis that strained NATO relations and pushed Denmark and Greenland into negotiations to defuse the pressure.

A NATO spokesperson said Saturday the alliance welcomed the agreement, which would “help advance security, stability and cooperation in this vital region.”

Steffen Nielsen, 49, a sales worker in Copenhagen, said, “I think that the U.S. is probably going to get what they could have had the whole time, if they just asked nicely.”

“I don’t like it,” Kaj Jorgensen, 80, a pensioner in Copenhagen, said of the news. “I don’t wish the United States to be present anywhere in the Danish Kingdom. I really don’t trust Donald Trump.”