The United States is set to establish two new military bases in Greenland under a trilateral agreement with Denmark and Greenland expected to be signed Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
Washington intends to reopen Narsarsuaq, the site of the former Bluie West One installation that operated through the 1950s, as well as establish a new presence at Mestersvig on Greenland's remote east coast. The Mestersvig site currently serves as a forward outpost for the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish special forces unit conducting Arctic reconnaissance.
The two new locations will supplement Pituffik Space Base — formerly Thule Air Base — which has served as the sole remaining American installation in Greenland since the Cold War drawdown. At its Cold War peak, the United States maintained 17 military installations across Greenland and stationed more than 10,000 personnel there. The planned expansion represents a measured but significant return to that posture.
Three sources familiar with the negotiations confirmed the agreement's provisions, while noting that details remained subject to final adjustment until the document is formally signed. A White House spokesperson declined to discuss specifics, reiterating only that the deal would "secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States."
Denmark has framed the arrangement as placing Arctic security under NATO's oversight framework rather than leaving it solely as a bilateral matter between Copenhagen and Washington. The move is widely seen as a direct response to sustained pressure from President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly asserted that American control over Greenland is a national security necessity and has declined to rule out economic or military measures to achieve that goal.
Trump's pressure campaign, which intensified in January, triggered a diplomatic crisis within NATO and forced Denmark and Greenland into accelerated negotiations with Washington. The resulting agreement appears designed to satisfy American strategic requirements while preserving Greenlandic and Danish sovereignty in form if not in full substance.
Narsarsuaq, which now has a permanent population of only a few dozen residents, sits near Greenland's southern tip. Mestersvig lies on the island's vast eastern coastline, a strategically sensitive area given its proximity to transatlantic shipping and submarine transit routes.
The signing, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET Tuesday at UNGA, marks the most significant expansion of American military infrastructure in Greenland in decades and signals Washington's firm commitment to Arctic dominance as competition with Russia and China in the region accelerates.
