Greentanamo: Trump Deal Gives US Sovereignty Over Small Pockets Of Greenland For Military Bases

This post was republished with permission from Zero Hedge

Details of Trump’s Greenland deal are trickling in.

With little official information on what Trump earlier called “a framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland”, which prompted the president to call off tariff threats that he had issued in an effort to secure American ownership of Greenland, and sparked a massive market rally (just as JPMorgan’s trading desk said would happen), the NYT reports that the announcement followed a NATO meeting on Wednesday “where top military officers from the alliance’s member states discussed a compromise in which Denmark would give the United States sovereignty over small pockets of Greenlandic land where the United States could build military bases.”

The NYT goes on to note that according to two of the officials, who attended the meeting, the deal compares “to the United Kingdom’s bases in Cyprus, which are regarded as British territory.” 

What wasn’t reported is that the US already has a military base in Greenland, namely Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Base), where about 150 United States service members are permanently stationed as of 2025, after the United States significantly reduced its presence from 6,000 personnel during the Cold War.

The US has had a military presence on Greenland since the second world war, when the island was left undefended during the Nazi occupation of its then colonial ruler, Denmark. The US moved in, setting up airfields, weather stations and defences and watched for German submarines in the North Atlantic. Ten years later, the arrangement was formalised via a defence treaty with Denmark, which is part of Nato, that allowed the US the right to operate military facilities there. During the cold war, Pituffik again became an important Arctic base for the US.

Under the 1951 Greenland Defense Agreement, the United States was allowed to operate the base under a NATO framework, as long as both Denmark and the United States remain NATO members. Under the agreement, the Danish national flag must be flown at the base to recognize that the base is on Danish territory, but the United States is allowed to fly its own flag alongside the Danish flag on the facilities it operates.

The 1951 agreement was modified in 2004, giving the USA unrestricted access to the Pituffik base. Sure enough, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has referred to this recently. If the Americans want to expand their military presence beyond that, they only must consult and inform the authorities in Nuuk and Copenhagen.

Back in March 2025, vice president JD Vance brought a US delegation to Pituffik space base, which is located 932 miles (1,500km) from Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, 750 miles (1,207km) north of the Arctic Circle, and across Baffin Bay from Nunavut in Canada, thus playing an essential role in US missile detection.

In other words, while the US will go from having a military base in Greenland on semi-autonomous territory to… having a base in Greenland on autonomous territory, all Trump needs to do is change the name of the island to Greentanamo and declare victory, and the entire episode will be forgotten.

And yes, there is a tweet for that.

I promise not to do this to Greenland! pic.twitter.com/03DdyVU6HA

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2019

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Update (1430ET): Global markets are roiling once again following a post from President Trump on his social media feed that “based upon a very productive meeting” with the NATO SecGen Mark Rutte:

“we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region.

This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations.

Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st.

Additional discussions are being held concerning The Golden Dome as it pertains to Greenland.

Further information will be made available as discussions progress.

Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and various others, as needed, will be responsible for the negotiations — They will report directly to me. “

Of course, there is nothing in this statement that mentions any discussions with Greenland itself… or EU nations.

? Trump on Greenland: "The deal is going to be put out pretty soon… it gets us everything we needed to get."

pic.twitter.com/FR5quN5iHz

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 21, 2026

Additionally, President Trump spoke to CNBC’s Joe Kernen and made the following key points:

• *TRUMP: GREENLAND FRAMEWORK IS A LONG TERM DEAL
  
  
• *TRUMP: GREENLAND FRAMEWORK PUTS EVERYONE IN A GOOD POSITION
  
  
• *TRUMP: FRAMEWORK IS A DEAL THAT’S ‘FOREVER’
  
  
• *TRUMP SAYS `I ASSUME’ DENMARK HAS WEIGHED IN POSSIBLE DEAL INVOLVING GREENLAND
  
  
• *TRUMP: GREENLAND THREAT WAS A TRADE WAR, DON’T SEE US FIGHTING
  
  
• *TRUMP SAYS US TO BE ‘INVOLVED’ IN GREENLAND MINERAL RIGHTS

Who could have seen this coming?

Why JPMorgan's Desk Thinks The Greenland Standoff Ends In A Bullish "Negotiated Arranagement" https://t.co/FkG1fsCoeP

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) January 20, 2026

As JPM noted:

• The most likely outcome is a NEGOTIATED ARRANGEMENT that expands US security/eco presence in the territory and addresses US stated objectives – stronger Arctic security posture, enhanced early warning for missile defense and access to Greenland’s natural resources – while Denmark preserves sovereignty.
  
  
• A SALE is less likely because the US does not need formal territorial control to achieve the stated objectives, and it would seem had to get approval from both Denmark and Greenland.
  
  
• An INVASION is really a tail outcome for more than one reason: polls horribly with voters and, needless to say, it would melt NATO faster than Arctic ice…

And there we go… will Denmark start buying USTs again now… with all the cash they are going to get from Trump?

Anyone else getting ‘China Trade Truce’ deja vu feelings all over again?

• Oct 26, 2025: US reaches “framework of a potential trade deal” with China
  
  
• Jan 21, 2026: US reaches “framework of a future deal” on Greenland

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