Far-right US president Donald Trump had a busy mid-January 2026. US special forces had just kidnapped Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Canada, Mexico, Cuba and other nations were also on the agenda if Trump was to be believed. And so was Greenland…
Trump officially backed down on annexing the arctic island, a semi-autonomous Danish territory (A colony, in short), at the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Davos. That was on 21 January 2026. By late February, Israel had led Trump into a disastrous war with Iran. Greenland seemed forgotten…
Today, 12 May, it has been revealed that NATO ally Denmark and the US have actually been negotiating a deal for three US bases in Greenland “since mid-January”.
The talks have been kept quiet, but the BBC has now reported:
The US has been holding regular negotiations with Denmark to expand its military presence in Greenland, according to multiple officials familiar with the discussions, with talks between both sides progressing in recent months.
US officials are seeking to open three new bases in the south of the territory, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark, as they work to resolve a diplomatic crisis sparked by President Donald Trump when he threatened to seize Greenland by force.
It does beg questions… what was all the fuss about? Why has Denmark conceded quietly? And what are the implications of giving the bullying Trump what he wants?
Danish and US agreements
Both the White House and Denmark have confirmed talks are under way. Negotiating teams have met five times since January. A tight-lipped Danish official said:
There is an ongoing diplomatic track with the United States. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not go into further details at this time.
The BBC said:
The bases would be in southern Greenland and primarily focus on surveillance of potential Russian and Chinese maritime activity in an area of the northern Atlantic between Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom known as the GIUK Gap.
Trump’s imperial plan, the November 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS), had a strong focus on ‘hemispheric control’ over the Americas. Here’s the Canary write-up of some of its white supremacist framing.
The NSS said the US would step away from hostility to China and Russia – and be less involved military in the Middle East. Trump’s more isolationist vision was quickly derailed after Israel led the fumbling US president into a poorly-planned attack on Iran.
At the time Trump may also have been over-confident after military success in the Venezuela raid. And he was under severe pressure over revelations about his links to the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The BBC reported:
The two sides have not formally agreed to anything yet and the final number of bases could change, the sources said. One of the new bases would likely be located in Narsarsuaq, on the site of a former US military base that housed a small airport.
Any other new military bases would likely also be located on sites in Greenland that have existing infrastructure such as airfields or ports, which could be upgraded at a lower cost than building new facilities, analysts said.
The outlet also reported that talk of the US annexing or seizing Greenland by force had not come up in the negotiations. It said the talks had been a “delicate diplomatic effort” led by Michael Needham, a senior state department official.
Greenland PM Jens-Frederik Nielsen said Tuesday 12 May at a meeting in Copenhagen that the US had:
taken some steps in the right direction.
Why fight when you can negotiate?
The BBC pointed out that Greenland was once home to many US bases:
The US currently has one military base in Greenland, down from approximately 17 military facilities during the height of the Cold War. Pituffik Space Base is located in northwestern Greenland – it monitors missiles for NORAD but is not configured to conduct maritime surveillance.
It seems Trump’s plan for hemispheric control is proceeding after all. It is very much Trump’s blustering style to bully those who oppose him in a bid for a better deal. That clearly failed with Iran. But with Denmark it has had some effect. In Venezuela, where the post-Maduro regime has proven to be much more pliable, Trump’s belligerence has also paid off.
One former US defence official said:
Why threaten an ally with a military operation or invasion when what you want is something that could be negotiated quite easily?
While retired US general Glen VanHerck, who once led Northern Command (Northcom), said:
Wherever the US and our allies leave a vacuum, that vacuum is often filled by China and Russia.
This kind of view is not uncommon in US strategic circles. The (rather arrogant) suggestion is that anywhere where the US is not dominant, nothing exists but a ‘vacuum’. This kind of arrogance colours US foreign policy even under Democratic presidencies – though it has taken a severe beating in regard to Iran.
The problem for Denmark – and NATO – is that having gained ground through threats, Trump is prone to demanding more. The fact that Greenland is effectively a Danish colonial possession, whose indigenous people were subject to centuries of dispossession, is also unresolved here. And, unlike the negotiations the negative environmental, political and social impact of US overseas bases is no secret.
By Joe Glenton
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