In Nuuk, Greenland on January 23, 2026, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew his most aggressive threat to buy Greenland, a statue of Norwegian Lutheran priest and missionary Hans Egede, who founded Nuuk in 1728, and Our Savior Lutheran Church stand as Mount Selmiziak looms.
Sean Gallup Getty Images
The United States reportedly plans to reopen a Cold War-era military base in southern Greenland and station troops at an eastern outpost currently operated by Danish dog sled patrols, as part of a broader security agreement that the United States, Denmark and Greenland are expected to sign on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump announced an agreement with Greenland and Denmark last Friday that would give the United States “permanent control over the security and all other needs” of the Danish territory.
The two new sites are Narsarsuaq, where only a few dozen residents lived after the US closed the Bluey West One base in the 1950s, and Mestersvig, a military outpost used by Denmark’s special forces, the Sirius Patrol, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.
The terms of the deal remain undisclosed and may not be finalized until it is signed by the three governments at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the report said. The White House and the governments of Denmark and Greenland did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
The agreement comes as President Trump has pushed for U.S. control of Greenland, sometimes refusing to remove military or economic power to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory, alarming Greenlanders and causing rifts within NATO nations. The European Union (EU) has insisted that Greenland is not for sale, and earlier this year it united in condemning President Trump’s push to acquire the island.
But President Trump signaled Friday that he was satisfied with the new deal, arguing that it addresses “all of America’s many concerns” and would cost the United States nothing.
Greenland’s government said in a statement last week that the deal strengthens its security, as well as that of Denmark, the United States and the broader Western alliance. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also said the agreement “recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the right to self-determination of the Greenlanders.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday pressed leaders of the Arctic Alliance, including Canada, Denmark, Greenland, Norway and Sweden, to increase defense spending in the region, emphasizing the need to develop sovereign military and economic power and fund critical infrastructure.
Broader provisions would prohibit non-NATO countries, particularly China and Russia, from establishing military presence in Greenland, and would prohibit clandestine investments by non-aligned countries in key mineral and mining sectors. Receding sea ice is opening new shipping lanes and exposing mineral deposits across the Arctic, as the United States, Russia and China seek to increase their presence in the region.
During the Cold War, the United States maintained 17 military installations and stationed more than 10,000 personnel in Greenland. Pitafik Space Station is the only base still in operation and is home to approximately 150 American military personnel.
