DOMINANT ANGLE
Canberra is scrutinizing an agreement that locks in Greenland's access to Washington's strategic rivals, seeing in this Arctic setup a mirror of its own competition with Beijing in the Indo-Pacific.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
A State Department official notes that the agreement gives the United States permanent rights of access, basing, and overflight, the possibility of increasing the number of bases, and prohibits any non-NATO country from installing a base or troops there.
- 02
The signature by the three governments is scheduled for next week during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, subject to the approval of the Danish and Greenlandic parliaments.
- 03
Donald Trump describes the agreement as a "dream come true" and asserts that the United States will have "FOREVER" the necessary capability to secure Greenland and America.
ANALYSIS
Canberra, Saturday, 19 September 2026. The tripartite agreement announced on Friday by Donald Trump on social media is occupying the Australian press as a test of the American doctrine of exclusion of China and Russia, more than as a territorial dispute with a NATO ally. According to a State Department official cited by The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, the text guarantees the United States "the full capacity to do what they deem necessary in Greenland to secure and defend the American continent", with permanent rights of access, stationing and overflight, the possibility of increasing the number of bases, and the prohibition for any non-NATO country to install a base or troops there. Only the United States and its allies will be able to invest in the sensitive sectors of the island, which is rich in minerals.
Donald Trump, who a few months ago did not exclude taking the territory by force, has described the agreement as a "dream come true" and stated that Washington will have "forever" the necessary control for its security. The office of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen emphasizes that the text "recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Greenland and Denmark, as well as the right of the two peoples to self-determination; it will still need to be approved by the Danish and Greenlandic parliaments before being signed by the three governments next week, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen believes that the agreement "recognizes" the interests of his territory.
SBS News notes that the outcome remains below Trump's initial project to simply acquire the island, which already hosts a Space Force base in the northwest. The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald point out that American concerns about Chinese investments in Greenland are considered exaggerated by experts. For Australia, which is itself engaged in a strategic competition with Beijing in the Indo-Pacific, the episode illustrates a method now familiar to Washington: securing an allied territory through permanent military access rather than annexation, while locking out strategic rivals.
SOURCES (4)
- SBS News AustraliaMEDIUM
- The Age WorldMEDIUM
- ABC News PoliticsMEDIUM
