Thursday, September 24, 2026

Trump announces major US military expansion in Greenland

The United States is preparing a substantial expansion of its military footprint in Greenland, with President Donald Trump announcing plans for two major bases under a new security agreement with Denmark.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Trump said the arrangement would give Washington extensive powers to protect North America and contribute to the defence of Europe and other regions.

“We will have the complete ability to do what is necessary to defend the American continent, and also Europe and other places,” Trump said.

He also declared that Washington would prevent hostile powers from establishing a military presence or making strategically sensitive investments on the Arctic island without US approval.



“No US adversary will ever be permitted to establish a military presence in Greenland any more, or make sensitive investments there without our express written approval,” Trump said.

Following his UN address, Trump signed the agreement alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

The planned American expansion is expected to involve Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland, where the US previously operated the Bluie West One airbase, and Mestersvig on Greenland’s eastern coast, currently used as a Danish military outpost.

Greenland, the world’s largest island, is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. Its position between the Arctic and North Atlantic gives it considerable strategic importance for defence, surveillance and military operations across the northern hemisphere.

The US already maintains Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, previously called Thule Air Base. The facility, the Pentagon’s northernmost installation, performs missile-warning, missile-defence and space-surveillance functions.

American forces have operated in Greenland since World War II, with a 1951 agreement between Washington and Copenhagen establishing the legal framework for the US military presence. Numerous American installations operated across the island during the Cold War before the footprint was eventually reduced to Pituffik.

The latest agreement follows months of friction between Washington and its European allies over Greenland’s future.

Trump had repeatedly argued that the United States should control the strategically located territory and declined to exclude military force as a means of securing it. Those comments prompted strong responses from Denmark and Greenland, whose leaders maintained that the island was not for sale and that Greenlanders alone should determine its future.

The new security arrangement instead significantly increases Washington’s military role while leaving Greenland within the Kingdom of Denmark.

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9 COMMENTS

  1. Gutless wonders. Look how Iran has stood up to the imperialists and you just bow down. If I was a Greenlander I’d be outraged and no doubt, many are.

  2. The biggest island on the planet with a popn less then 40,000. And the yanks have been there since 1951 and no one said a word. trump says we’re moving in and the world cuts up like a bunch of sooks who’ve missed out on their ice cream cos the bully took them first. There’s enough minerals and gas there to supply the planet for decades – the whole island is completely empty. Australia is the next biggest island on the planet and is mined extensively and no one says a word. Ive got a postcard from Greenland dated 1969 when my mum had a boyfriend on the USCG Burton Island. He sent me that postcard from Greenland. It shows the locals being helped by US sailors to move sheep by boat and everyone is smiling. If the Russians moved in no one would be smiling.

    • The majority of Greenlanders have clearly stated Rob they don’t want the US there or its expansion. This takes away their sovereignty as is the case here in NZ with US interference. This is classic US neo colonialism. Oh just a few Indians they wont mind “Trail of Tear”…..history repeating itself.

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