The US-Greenland-Denmark security deal ensures increased defense against China and Russia’s designs on the arctic circle for the US and Europe.
US Arctic Commissioner Tom Dans also expects it will be good for business, too.
The trilateral Arctic Security Agreement gives the US ability to expand its military presence on the island, adding two new defense bases at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig, as well as overhauling its Pituffik Space Base — the northernmost Department of Defense installation, 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle with construction due to start imminently.
“When America goes to work in Greenland, things happen,” Dans said of how quickly he expects to see development. “We built the main base there, I think, in nine months. We built probably what’s the best airport and base there in six months.”
The agreement is also expected to let the US extend its presence beyond defense and Dans says there are plans to assist revamping various infrastructure projects and bring in more workforce as needed.
Investment is already gearing up. One North Carolina company, Greenland Mines, closed a purchase of the Sarfartoq rare earths project in southwest Greenland. Sarfartoq plans to mine neodymium and praseodymium, rare-earth materials needed for magnets.
The project is still in development and is not yet an operational mine, but is poised to create a complete supply chain in the US and Europe — one shareholder has said the goal is to process materials at a facility in Estonia.
Dans expects that precedent to continue and believes data centers are next.
“There are groups out there working on it,” he added. And noted “There’s “a strong rationale” for building where “you have a tremendous energy source and you have the benefit of, you know, cold climate.”
One data center project backed by Washington DC’s GreenMet is making plans to build in the Kangerlussuaq area of Greenland. However, getting approval from the Danish government has been a holdup.
The Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, scheduled for October 8-10, will likely see more proposals unveiled.
The timing of the Greenland deal, sources note, is significant. The signing came the same week Chinese president Xi Jinping arrives in Washington, DC Wednesday, and gives President Trump a position of authority as they discuss both national security and their opposing sides in the artificial intelligence race.
Heading into their meetings, Trump is closer to solving two huge challenges in building out AI — rare earths materials needed for high powered computers and the energy infrastructure to back it up.
Notably, the deal bars US adversaries from setting up bases or making sensitive investments in Greenland without prior US approval. The country is a Danish territory and receives annual support from that government for its 55,700 inhabitants.
It also counters the narrative that America has pushed Europe away.
“The animating intent is always to make ourselves and our allies stronger,” Dans adds.
Trump has made many overtures about “buying” Greenland or making it a US territory, but Dans is clear on the government’s position.
“The Greenlanders are going to decide their future. They’ve got great friends now in the United States and Denmark”, he said, while also noting he hasn’t closed the door on closer relations entirely either.
Trump has been pushing to buy Greenland since his first term. Last year, he sent representatives including Vice President Vance to make their pitch to the Greenlandic people.
