A statue of Hans Egede, a Norwegian Lutheran priest and missionary who founded Nuuk in 1728, and the Lutheran Church of Our Saviour stand as Sermitsiaq mountain looms behind two days after U.S. President Donald Trump walked back on his most aggressive threats over acquiring Greenland on January 23, 2026 in Nuuk, Greenland.
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The U.S. reportedly plans to reopen a Cold War-era military base in southern Greenland and station forces at an eastern outpost currently run by the Danish dog sled patrol, part of a broader security agreement the US, Denmark and Greenland are set to sign Tuesday.
President Donald Trump last Friday announced an agreement with Greenland and Denmark that would give the U.S. what he described as «permanent control over security, and all other needs» in the Danish island territory.
The two new sites are Narsarsuaq, home to just a few dozen residents after the U.S. shut its Bluie West One base in the 1950s, and Mestersvig, a military outpost used by the Sirius Patrol, a Danish special forces unit, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.
Terms of the agreement remain undisclosed and may not be finalized until the three governments sign at the UN General Assembly in New York, according to the report. The White House and the governments of Denmark and Greenland did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
The agreement came as Trump has pushed for U.S. control of Greenland and at times declined to rule out military or economic force to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory, alarming Greenlanders and opening a rift within NATO nations. Greenland has maintained it is not for sale, and the European Union earlier this year united to rebuke Trump over his push to acquire the island.
But Trump signaled Friday that he was satisfied by the new deal, claiming that it addresses «ALL of our many U.S. concerns» and at no cost to the U.S.
Greenland’s government, in a statement last week, said that the deal would strengthen its security and that of Denmark, the U.S. and the broader Western alliance. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also noted the pact «recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination.»
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday pressed leaders from Arctic allies, including Canada, Denmark, Greenland, Norway and Sweden, to raise defense spending in the region and stressed the need for developing sovereign military and economic capabilities, as well as funding critical infrastructure.
The broader provisions would bar non-NATO nations, particularly China and Russia, from establishing a military footprint in Greenland and prohibit sensitive investments by non-allies in the critical minerals and mining sectors. Retreating sea ice has opened new shipping lanes and exposed mineral deposits across the Arctic, drawing the U.S., Russia and China to bolster their presence in the region.
During the Cold War, the U.S. maintained 17 military installations with over 10,000 personnel in Greenland. Pituffik Space Base has remained as the only active station today, with some 150 American military personnel.
