US Negotiates Three New Military Bases in Southern Greenland with Denmark

The United States has held regular negotiations with Denmark to expand its military presence in Greenland, multiple officials familiar with the discussions said. Talks between the two sides have progressed in recent months.

US officials want to open three new bases in the south of the territory, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark. The effort aims to resolve a diplomatic crisis sparked by President Donald Trump, who threatened to seize Greenland by force.

Trump said in January that the US should "own" Greenland to prevent Russia or China from taking it. He added this could happen the "easy way" or the "hard way".

The White House confirmed high-level talks with Greenland and Denmark but declined to discuss details. A White House official told the BBC the administration was very optimistic the talks were headed in the right direction.

Denmark's foreign ministry confirmed discussions with the US. "There is an ongoing diplomatic track with the United States. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not go into further detail at this time," a spokesperson said.

US officials have proposed designating the three new bases as US sovereign territory, one source with knowledge of the negotiations said.

The bases would target surveillance of potential Russian and Chinese maritime activity in the GIUK Gap, an area of the northern Atlantic between Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom, officials who spoke to the BBC said.

No formal agreement exists yet, and the final number of bases could change, the sources said. One base would likely go in Narsarsuaq, on the site of a former US military base with a small airport.

Other bases would use existing infrastructure like airfields or ports, which analysts said could be upgraded at lower cost than new builds.

US officials have not raised seizing control of Greenland in talks. Denmark and NATO have publicly rejected such a move.

The countries have worked toward a deal in recent months despite Trump's threats. Talks involve a small working group of Washington officials who have advanced negotiations out of the spotlight while the administration focused on the war in Iran.

General Gregory Guillot, head of US Northern Command, alluded to the negotiations in March congressional testimony. He said the US sought new bases. Sources close to the talks described regular high-level meetings that have progressed recently.

Michael Needham, a senior State Department official, leads the effort to craft a deal that satisfies Trump while respecting Denmark's borders. "Needham is running point" on Greenland, a senior diplomat with knowledge of the talks said. The administration is "approaching it very professionally", the person added.

The teams have met at least five times since mid-January. Needham typically brings one or two officials from the State Department or National Security Council. Danish counterparts include Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark's ambassador to the US, and Jacob Isbosethsen, Greenland's top diplomat in Washington.

Trump's special envoy to Greenland, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, has not joined the negotiations, three sources said. "He was supposed to be more of like a rah-rah cheerleader of the idea that we could just flex our muscles and take over Greenland as a security asset," a close Landry ally said on condition of anonymity. Landry "has never been to any of the actual talks."

Landry's office did not respond to a request for comment.

The US now has one military base in Greenland, Pituffik Space Base in the northwest. It monitors missiles for NORAD but lacks maritime surveillance capability. The US had about 17 facilities there at the Cold War peak.

Some current and former officials and Arctic experts told the BBC Washington could have pursued its Greenland interests without threatening a NATO ally. "Why threaten an ally with a military operation or invasion when what you want is something that could be negotiated quite easily?" one former senior US defense official said.

Others praised US-Denmark cooperation. "Wherever the US and our allies leave a vacuum, that vacuum is often filled by China and Russia," retired General Glen VanHerck, Northern Command and NORAD head from 2020 to 2024, told the BBC.

Negotiators seek compromise under a 1951 US-Denmark security agreement. It allows broad US military expansion in Greenland with Danish approval. Denmark has historically backed US operations there and never rejected a request, Arctic experts said.