US to open two new military bases in Greenland

The US will re-establish a Cold War-era military base in southern Greenland and set up another on the east coast under an agreement signed Tuesday with Denmark and Greenland, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The sites are Narsarsuaq, where the population has fallen to a few dozen since the US closed its Bluie West One base in the 1950s, and Mestersvig, an outpost used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish special forces unit. The three parties signed at the UN General Assembly in New York.

A White House spokesperson declined to discuss specifics before signing, repeating that the agreement would secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States. Denmark says it places Arctic security under NATO's watch rather than leaving it to Washington and Copenhagen alone.

The deal follows months of pressure from Trump, who has said he wants US control of Greenland and at times declined to rule out military or economic force to take the semi-autonomous Danish territory. Polling shows an overwhelming majority of Greenlanders oppose that idea. His threats peaked in January, triggering a diplomatic crisis within NATO and pushing Denmark and Greenland into talks.

During the Cold War the US ran 17 installations and more than 10,000 personnel in Greenland. Today only Pituffik Space Base remains, with about 150 American personnel.