Trump announced Friday night that the US, Denmark, and Greenland have entered an agreement giving the US “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland.” The deal was announced hours after a US-based mining company closed a $2.05 billion deal for a rare-earth project in southwest Greenland.
On Sept. 1, Greenland Mines, a NASDAQ-listed US-aligned firm headquartered in North Carolina, closed its acquisition of the Sarfartoq Rare Earths Project. The company plans to produce NdPr oxide, a compound made from neodymium and praseodymium used in EV and wind turbine magnets and defense. It said it plans to produce about one-third of the amount refined globally outside of China.
The preliminary acquisition was first announced in May when it was valued at $35 million.
The Security Deal
Trump posted on Truth Social: “No U.S. adversary can EVER have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval.”
The three governments are expected to sign next week at the UN General Assembly in New York. None of the parties released text of the agreement. Reuters reported parties were close to an agreement allowing components of Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense system to be housed in Greenlandic territory.
Greenland’s government said Saturday the deal does not relinquish its sovereignty.
“Next week could be a good week… For both Greenland, Denmark and the USA”
The Mining Angle
Greenland Mines president Bo Møller Stensgaard praised the deal, calling Greenland “becoming one of the most strategically important regions in the world.”
Greenland’s Foreign Minister Múte B. Egede told Denmark’s TV2 he was “pleased that we finally have an end product within reach. And it’s about time.”
The project has an estimated value of $2.05 billion. The preliminary acquisition was first announced in May when it was valued at $35 million.
What the Deal Covers
The agreement gives the US permanent control over Greenland’s security. It also covers “all other needs” in Greenland, though the exact scope has not been made public.
The deal does not remove Greenland’s sovereignty, according to Greenland’s government.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs the deal over the standoff, and its built-in scepticism toward foreign entanglements and trade wars alike would apply to both the US mining project and the new arrangement with Greenland. The timing is notable, and the two events travel together, but they are separate.
The deal strengthens the US position in the Arctic, and the paper does not oppose an arrangement that ties allies closer together. But the paper is sceptical of foreign entanglements, and it is wary of permanent control over another nation’s security, even when that nation says its sovereignty is not at risk.
What the reader should watch for is whether the arrangement crosses Denmark’s “red lines,” and whether the deal with Greenland Mines was sealed on the same day the security arrangement was announced.
Key Facts
- Trump’s deal follows the closure of the Sarfartoq acquisition by 17 days
- Greenland Mines is a NASDAQ-listed firm headquartered in North Carolina
- The Sarfartoq project was valued at $2.05 billion when closed
- The preliminary acquisition was first announced in May at $35 million
- The three governments are expected to sign next week at the UN General Assembly
- No text of the agreement has been released
What We Make of It
The timing is notable. A US company buys a rare-earth project in Greenland, and two weeks later the US announces permanent control over Greenland’s security. The two events are separate, but they travel together.
The deal strengthens the US position in the Arctic. Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen wrote on Facebook that the arrangement “strengthens security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic.” Múte B. Egede’s quote shows Greenland wants this done.
But the deal does not give up Greenland’s sovereignty, according to Greenland’s government. That is a line the government has drawn.
The question is whether the arrangement crosses Denmark’s “red lines.”
Greenland Mines frames the deal as strengthening security and trade ties between longstanding allies. The company is US-based, NASDAQ-listed, and now controls one of Greenland’s largest mining projects.
The US, Denmark, and Greenland signed an agreement giving the US permanent control over Greenland’s security. Greenland’s government says sovereignty is not at risk. The arrangement is expected to be signed next week at the UN General Assembly.
Source material: “Trump’s Greenland deal follows US firm’s purchase of rare-earth metals mine,” the New York Post.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.