US, Denmark and Greenland sign Arctic security pact at UN General Assembly

The United States, Denmark and Greenland signed a security agreement on Tuesday aimed at bolstering Arctic and North Atlantic security, easing months of friction over President Donald Trump's repeated calls for Greenland to become part of the United States.

The signing took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where Trump appeared alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

Trump described the agreement as long overdue, saying the idea had been raised by presidents stretching back decades but never completed. He said the deal would be "tremendous" for Europe, the United States and Greenland.

Frederiksen framed the pact as a successor to a defence agreement reached 75 years ago. She said the new arrangement was bigger and better, and could last indefinitely, benefiting the United States, Greenland, Denmark, the NATO alliance and Europe as a whole.

Addressing Trump directly, Frederiksen said she shared his concern that adversaries should not come too close, and that the deal ensured they would not be allowed to gain control or significant influence in Greenland. She added that more allies would be present in the Arctic as a result.

Nielsen said the agreement reflected mutual security commitments and was about taking shared responsibility for a secure America, a secure Greenland and a peaceful Arctic, built on mutual respect. He called it a "win-win-win agreement."

The signing follows Trump's announcement days earlier of a deal to strengthen the US military presence on the vast, mineral-rich island while keeping it under Danish control. Officials from the three sides had negotiated behind the scenes for months to address US security concerns.

Few details of the agreement were released before the signing. Denmark's parliament approved a bill last year allowing US military bases on Danish soil, widening a 2023 military agreement with the Biden administration that gave US troops broad access to air bases in Denmark.

Trump had previously insisted the US needed to "take Greenland" to prevent Russia or China from doing so, saying he would prefer to "make a deal" but that "one way or the other, we're going to have Greenland."