Denmark's leaders are cautiously optimistic about Trump's announcement of a Greenland deal

Kirsten Grieshaber, Associated Press Kirsten Grieshaber, Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark's government was cautiously optimistic on Saturday following Donald Trump's announcement of a deal on Greenland to bolster U.S. military presence there but keep the island under Danish control, after months of threats by the U.S. president to seize the semiautonomous territory of a NATO ally.

The Arctic island's top leaders echoed that stance and said the deal, which has not yet been made public, was long in coming.

U.S., Greenlandic and Danish officials had quietly negotiated for months behind the scenes, searching for solutions to address some of Trump's security concerns about the territory of roughly 56,000 residents. With the announcement of the pact, Trump is able to tout a foreign policy achievement ahead of the midterm elections in the United States.

Trump said Friday that the agreement would give the U.S. "permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many U.S. concerns."

Denmark and the U.S. already have a long-standing security agreement that allows the U.S. to deploy forces in Greenland, and it was not immediately clear how this deal would be different from that.

"I think it's obvious that we can expect more bases in Greenland. But it's important to say that if we look in the past, especially during the Cold War, the U.S. had immense military presence in Greenland," said Marc Jacobsen, an associate professor at the Royal Danish Defense College and the head of research at the Center for Arctic Security Studies.

He said it was a win for Trump. "It's important for him to show that he's a good businessman, that he kind of forced the pressure on Denmark and Greenland into something new."

After Trump's announcement, the office of Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the deal will be signed next week at the United Nations General Assembly. Parliamentary action was still needed by the Danish and Greenlandic governments before it can be enforced, she added.

"Next week could be a good week … for Greenland, Denmark, and the United States alike," Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen wrote on Instagram on Saturday morning.

"A period of uncertainty will hopefully be replaced by a binding agreement that strengthens security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic — and thus also our shared security within NATO and Europe," he added.

Greenland's government leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen said the deal would benefit "not only our collective security, but also the continued development here in the country."

The island's foreign minister, Múte B. Egede, said he was pleased "we now have an agreement within reach."

"I'm pleased that we finally have an end product within reach," he told Denmark's TV2 broadcaster. "It's about time."