Greenland deal averts repeated crises in US dispute, DR correspondent says
Saturday 19th September 2026 on 10:45 in
Denmark
A deal between Denmark, Greenland and the United States has resolved a dispute that appeared almost impossible to settle, DR’s US correspondent Kim Bildsøe Lassen says.
The agreement followed difficult and tense negotiations, during which both sides reportedly believed several times that a deal would fail.
“It has been on the verge of going wrong many times,” Lassen said, describing the dispute as difficult for Denmark to manage while resisting US demands.
The agreement is described as a security deal intended to address concerns from both the United States and NATO about security in the Arctic. According to sources cited by DR, neither Denmark nor Greenland appears to have been asked to accept terms they cannot live with.
The agreement maintains Denmark and Greenland’s position that sovereignty will not be surrendered and that Greenlanders should decide their own country’s future. Lassen called the outcome a major relief for many people in Greenland and Denmark.
The dispute intensified after US President Donald Trump first expressed a desire to buy Greenland in 2019. In December 2024, he wrote on Truth Social that ownership and control of Greenland were essential to the United States.
In January 2026, Danish soldiers were transported to Greenland as preparations were made for a possible US attack. DR reported that they brought additional blood supplies and explosives so they could destroy runways in Nuuk and Kangerlussuaq and prevent US military aircraft from landing troops.
NATO countries also sent soldiers to Greenland at several points as a symbolic signal that they would help defend Denmark and Greenland if a conflict with the United States occurred, Lassen said.
The public has not yet seen the agreement, so its specific contents remain unknown. It is expected to be signed next week in New York during the United Nations General Assembly by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Greenland’s premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen and President Donald Trump.