THE UNITED STATES will have to pay for any new military bases it establishes in Greenland under a new security agreement, Denmark’s foreign minister has said.

The comments from Lars Løkke Rasmussen come after US President Donald Trump claimed the agreement between the US, Denmark and Greenland would come at “no cost” to the United States.

“To the extent that the Americans are to build American bases in Greenland, that is of course something that the Americans finance,” Rasmussen told Danish news agency Ritzau.

Asked how that squared with Trump’s claim that there would be no cost to the US, Rasmussen replied: “You’ll have to ask him about that.”

However, he added that the agreement itself contains “no financing elements” and that the US would not have to pay rent for the land used for the bases.

The US, Denmark and Greenland signed the new security agreement at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday, following months of tensions over Trump’s repeated push for greater American control over the Arctic territory.

The deal allows the US to establish new military sites at Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland and Mestersvig on the east coast, as well as expand its operations at the existing Pituffik Space Base.

Trump on Greenland:

No U.S. adversary will ever be permitted to establish a military presence in Greenland anymore or make sensitive investments there without our express written approval.

We will immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the… pic.twitter.com/novjhYHOC7

— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 22, 2026

It also leaves open the possibility of further US military sites being established in Greenland, subject to agreement between the parties. The deal has no end date and also provides for increased US military access and overflight rights.

Rasmussen told Ritzau that the detailed terms for the two new bases still have to be agreed and said their development would have to take account of the environment and Greenlandic culture and way of life.

The agreement itself states that US military rights must be exercised in a manner that respects Greenlandic society, including traditional hunting and fishing activities.

Trump also hailed the agreement during his address to the UN General Assembly this week, saying it gave the US “permanent control over security and all other needs” in Greenland.

The deal did fall short of giving the US sovereignty over Greenland and explicitly reaffirmed the territorial integrity of Denmark and Greenlanders’ right to self-determination.

Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base, is currently the only active US military base in Greenland.