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.