US seeks carte blanche for military access in Greenland

The United States is seeking to rewrite its defence agreement with Denmark to remove limits on its military presence in Greenland, according to people familiar with the talks.

The existing agreement, signed in 1951 and amended in 2004, requires the United States to “consult with and inform” Denmark and Greenland before making “any significant changes to United States military operations or facilities in Greenland,” Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

The sources said U.S. negotiators want to revise that language to ensure Washington faces no restrictions as it develops military plans on the island. Negotiations are ongoing, and the final terms of any revised deal have yet to be agreed upon, the people said, declining to be identified because the discussions are private.

Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said that “if this deal goes through, and President Trump is very hopeful it will, the United States will be achieving all of its strategic goals with respect to Greenland, at very little cost, forever.”

“As details are finalised by all parties involved, they will be released accordingly,” she added. The Danish Embassy in Washington declined to comment.

Trump said on January 21 that a “framework of a future deal” on Greenland had been agreed following a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, though he offered few details.

“We’re all going to work together. And actually NATO is going to be involved with us,” Trump told reporters on January 20 when asked whether the agreement would give the United States ownership of the island.

“We’re going to be doing in conjunction, parts of it, in conjunction with NATO, which is really the way it should be,” he said after returning from Davos, adding that he would make it known “in two weeks” whether Denmark had agreed.

In a separate interview with Fox Business on January 22, Trump said the United States would have “all military access that we want.”

“We’re going to be able to put what we need on Greenland because we want it,” Trump said. “Essentially, it’s total access, there’s no end, there’s no time limit.”

Bloomberg has previously reported that the framework deal could include the deployment of U.S. missiles, mining rights aimed at limiting Chinese involvement, and a strengthened NATO presence in the Arctic. In exchange, Trump would uphold a pledge not to impose tariffs on European nations.

Any agreement would mark a reversal of decades of reduced U.S. military activity in Greenland following the Cold War. At its peak, the United States operated up to 17 bases on the island. Today, it maintains a single base with around 150 military personnel and more than 300 civilian contractors, many of whom are Danish or Greenlandic citizens.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on January 22 that Denmark and Greenland were open to “further expanding” the 1951 defence treaty, but stressed that talks must proceed carefully.

“This must, of course, take place in a proper and respectful manner, and we are now seeing whether that can be done,” Frederiksen said.

Former U.S. defence officials say the existing agreement already gives Washington broad latitude, and that both Denmark and Greenland have encouraged a stronger U.S. presence for years.

“Any time we requested a meeting on things, we were always met with a willingness to talk about it,” said Iris Ferguson, a former deputy assistant secretary of defence.

By Aghakazim Guliyev