Trump says US and Denmark have reached new security agreement in Greenland

Por Ashley Ahn and Paul McLeary — POLITICO – TOP Stories

President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. has reached an agreement for “permanent control over security” for Greenland that would enable a broad expansion of the American military presence on the territory of Denmark that he has long coveted.

The White House did not release the agreement and it wasn’t immediately clear how the agreement, which the president announced in a Truth Social post, differed from the 1951 treaty that granted the U.S. authority to station troops in Greenland.

The Embassy of Denmark had no immediate comment and it also wasn’t clear if the agreement marked an end to an increasingly bitter rift with the U.S. over Trump’s belligerent rhetoric toward Greenland, which he has repeatedly said is critical to American security.

He said on social media that the agreement prohibits any U.S. adversary from having a military presence in the Arctic island territory, and that the U.S. will 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.”

A 1951 agreement between the U.S. and Denmark already gave Washington wide latitude to expand military bases and deploy troops to the island, something that NATO diplomats have pointed out with some frustration since the start of the Trump administration. It is not clear how this new agreement changes that agreement which already gave Washington much of what Trump has been demanding.

While the U.S. military footprint in Greenland is small, it has fluctuated in size depending on the threat picture throughout the Cold War and after. American warships can dock at a deepwater port there and radar systems feed data back to the Pentagon.

Last year, the Pentagon redrew its command maps to pull Greenland out of the European Command area of responsibility — given its ties to Denmark — and placed it under the Northern Command, which handles security for North America. Placing Greenland under Northern Command in some respects carves Greenland away from Denmark when it comes to how the island is prioritized in policy discussions at the Pentagon and the White House.

The United States, Greenland and Denmark — which controls Greenland’s foreign affairs — have been engaged in negotiations for months about the Trump administration’s demands for more access to Greenland. Trump has long expressed a desire to militarily take over the North Atlantic island, alarming Greenlanders and sparking backlash from European leaders as well as GOP lawmakers.

Fonte: POLITICO – TOP Stories