DOMINANT ANGLE
Spain measures the Greenlandic agreement through the economic prism opened by Brussels: while Washington secures bases and access to minerals without spending a euro, the European Union maintains its own investment plan on the island.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Trump wrote on Truth Social that the agreement gives the United States "permanent control of security and all other needs" of Greenland "at no cost" to Washington
- 02
Expansión reports that the European Union is maintaining a 200 million euro investment plan in Greenland, parallel to the US agreement
- 03
The agreement prohibits any US adversary from installing a base, troops, or sensitive investments in Greenland without written approval from Washington
ANALYSIS
Madrid, September 19, 2026. The Spanish press views the US-Greenland agreement as less of an isolated diplomatic fact than as a new chapter in the economic rivalry between Washington and Brussels for the Arctic. On Friday, September 18, Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he had concluded an agreement with the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenland, which, in his words, gives the United States "permanent control of security and all other needs" of the island, "at no cost" to Washington. The US President describes the agreement as "infinite lifetime, with no expiration date" and announces the immediate launch of a process to develop an expanded military presence on Danish territory, which he describes as "rich in minerals".
The economic daily Expansión places the announcement in the context of months of pressure from Trump, who had not ruled out taking the NATO-allied island by force, and contrasts it with a 200 million euro investment plan that the European Union maintains in Greenland — a sign, for Madrid, that Brussels intends to remain an economic player on the island rather than leaving the field open to Washington. The newspaper also recalls that Trump had cited the "Golden Dome" anti-missile shield project as a pretext for his claims, and that he had reproached Europe for its lack of support in the face of Iran.
ElDiario.es notes that the agreement now prohibits any "adversary" of the United States from installing a base, troops, or sensitive investments in Greenland without Washington's written approval — a clause that, for the Spanish press, further restricts economic access to the island than its sole military dimension. Neither of the two publications reports any immediate official reaction from Copenhagen: the Danish embassy in Washington has not commented, and ElDiario.es notes the lack of Danish reaction at the time of publication.
For the Spanish press, the issue therefore goes beyond the sole question of Greenland's formal sovereignty, which is preserved on paper: it is the reserve of strategic and mining sectors for the United States and its allies that holds attention, in a context where the European Union is also seeking to secure access to the island's critical resources.
