Denmark retreats as Trump backs oil and mining deals in Greenland
The recent US-Greenland-Denmark agreement excludes mining or drilling rights while strengthening Greenland's sovereignty.
Denmark has asked US resource exploration in Greenland to respect the island's laws amid claims by President Donald Trump that oil, gas and mineral extraction will soon begin on the island.
Denmark's foreign ministry reiterated on Wednesday that last month's agreement between Denmark, Greenland and the United States did not change mining rules.
List 3 items List 1 of 3 Why is Greenland important to the United States?
List 2 of 3 Greenland delegations received a hero's welcome after the US-Denmark treaty was signed.
List 3 of 3 Trump says oil, gas and mineral exploration will begin in Greenland
Ending the list, the ministry said the agreement would not give US investors any preferential treatment over investors from other NATO and EU countries in accessing natural resources in Greenland.
US President Trump called the semi-autonomous territory of Denmark "our beautiful new Greenland" in a post on Truth Social.
"A massive exploration of oil, gas and minerals is getting ready to begin," he wrote without elaborating.
Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen signed a 10-page agreement on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 22, ending months of tension over Trump's threats to control Greenland.
The deal allows the United States to "modernize and expand" its activities at Pitofik Space Base, a remote US military installation in northwestern Greenland.
It also paved the way for two new military bases and Trump's "Golden Dome" missile defense system, while asserting Denmark's sovereignty and Greenlanders' right to self-determination.
It did not assign any rights for mining or drilling.
Greenland banned uranium mining and all future oil exploration in 2021.
The state is investigating whether a Texas company, Greenland Energy, can use licenses that predate the ban.
The company announced in August that it planned to drill for oil in an untested basin off the east coast of Greenland in 2027, although it did not have its permit.
Danish security policy adviser Jakob Karsbo said Trump's comments could indicate that his desire to control Greenland remains unchanged.
"It is very dangerous to look at this agreement between the Trump administration and Denmark as something that has changed Trump's intentions," he said.
Mikkel Olsen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told Al Jazeera that the details of mining and exploration rights were unclear and that information coming mainly from the US should be taken "with a grain of salt".
Richard Weitz, a fellow at NATO's Defense College in Rome, said Trump "backed off on his withdrawal and settled for less than he wanted" but still "got pretty much everything he wanted, except formal accession."