Trump strikes Greenland deal months after threatening to take island by force
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Donald Trump has announced a plan to ramp up the US military presence in Greenland.
The president said the agreement gives the US "permanent control over security and all other needs in Greenland".
President Donald Trump has announced a security deal with Greenland. AP Photo/Matt Kelley
“There will be NO COST to the United States!” he wrote on Truth Social.
"At my direction, we worked with representatives of Denmark and Greenland to guarantee that the United States will FOREVER 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.
He wrote that no US adversary could ever have a base on Greenland or make sensitive investments "without our express written approval".
"For over 100 years, Presidents have known the strategic importance of Greenland, but NONE of them were able to do anything about it.
"I am proud to be the President that permanently and conclusively addressed this very important situation."
He described the deal as an "Infinite Life" agreement.
"We will immediately begin the process of developing a large Military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland, of which there are many," Trump wrote.
"We will work with the people of Greenland in its development and construction."
A deal will be signed between the US, Greenland and Denmark at the UN General Assembly this week.
Greenland is sparsely populated but strategically valuable. iStock
The Premier of Greenland Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed the agreement in a statement.
"It is encouraging that we are about to make an agreement that will ensure and strengthen the security of Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark, the United States, and the Western Alliance," Nielsen said.
"The agreement recognises Greenland’s interests and our place in the international cooperation. It is to the benefit of us all."
It was also welcomed by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
"I am glad that we are about to make a great agreement for Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark, and the United States.
"An agreement which strengthens our common security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic Area and therefore is great for NATO and Europe as well.
"And an agreement which at the same time recognises the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination."
Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
While Nielsen and Frederiksen welcomed the deal, their statement did not confirm the details stated by Trump.
But a Republican senator celebrated the agreement as if the US was taking over the island.
“We’ve got Greenland!” Utah Senator Mike Lee tweeted.
“This is what winning looks like.”
The wife of top Trump aide Stephen Miller then tweeted a map of Greenland covered with the US flag.
"It's happening," Katie Miller wrote.
It comes months after Trump threatened military action to seize the world's largest island.
The US has long had military facilities on Greenland, but has scaled back their presence there after the end of the Cold War.
The Pituffik Space Base, now operated by the US Space Force, is used to detect intercontinental ballistic missiles that could be fired at North America.
Its location in the middle of the north Atlantic and its proximity to Russia over the North Pole has made the island strategically valuable.
Despite its immense size, Greenland has a tiny population of just 56,000, making it slightly smaller than Wagga Wagga and slightly larger than Shepparton.
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