Understanding Trump's Deal with Denmark

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed a deal on the security of the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland, in a bid to end the standoff over the strategic island. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen joined Trump at the United Nations General Assembly in New York for the trilateral signing ceremony.

The deal follows Trump’s repeated threats to annex Greenland—a move he insisted was a matter of “national security,” on account of the mineral-rich Arctic territory's positioning between the U.S., Europe and Russia. Trump has long argued that Denmark cannot be relied upon to protect the island. Tensions reached a critical point earlier this year, when he threatened to tariff European allies until Greenland fell under U.S. control, and suggested he may pull the U.S. out of NATO over the tussle. The signed agreement notably stops short of Trump's call for the U.S. to ​take over Greenland as a U.S. territory.

Instead, in a speech at the U.N. gathering, Trump said the deal gives the U.S. "permanent control over security and all other needs on that territory" and emphasized that "no U.S. adversary will ever be permitted to establish a military ​presence in Greenland ​any more or ⁠make sensitive investments there without our express written approval."

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