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Gallego called Trump an idiot over Greenland. Trump signed a permanent Arctic security deal.

Gallego Called Trump an ‘Idiot’ Over Greenland. Trump Just Signed a Permanent Arctic Security Deal.

by
M.A. Rothman

By M.A. RothmanSeptember 26, 2026 · 4 min read
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In January, Sen. Ruben Gallego said President Trump’s push for Greenland was the president “being an idiot.” In September, Trump sat down with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland in New York and signed a security agreement that opens two new American military sites on the island, clears the way for his Golden Dome missile shield there, bars any non-NATO country from setting up a military base, and has no expiration date.

The deal was signed Tuesday, Sept. 22, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, by Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen. It does not make Greenland American territory. It does give the United States a permanent, expanded military foothold in the Arctic that it did not have a year ago.

What the critics said

The reaction last winter, from Democrats and from European capitals, was scathing. On Jan. 15, in an interview with MS NOW, Gallego said, “This is the president being an idiot.” For good measure, he repeated it: “this president is an idiot.”

Within days, Trump threatened a 10% tariff, starting Feb. 1 and potentially rising to 25%, on goods from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland until a Greenland deal was reached. Then-British Prime Minister Keir Starmer replied that “applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of NATO allies is completely wrong.” French President Emmanuel Macron called the threat “unacceptable” and said, “We will not be swayed by any intimidation.”

Months of negotiation followed. What came out the other end is worth reading closely, because it is a long way from “idiotic.”

What the deal actually does

According to CBS News and Reuters reporting carried by the Times of Israel, the agreement amends the 1951 U.S.-Denmark defense treaty and:

  • Lets the United States modernize and expand Pituffik Space Base, its northernmost installation and a key early-warning post for incoming missiles.
  • Opens two new U.S. military sites, at Narsarsuaq, a former Cold War airbase in the south, and Mestersvig, now used by Denmark’s elite Sirius Dog Sled Patrol.
  • Permits the United States to establish a “Golden Dome” missile-defense system in Greenland as a shield against ballistic missile threats.
  • Bars non-NATO countries from establishing military installations on the island without the agreement of the parties.
  • Tightens screening of investment from outside NATO and the European Union in sensitive sectors such as critical infrastructure and resource extraction, a clear check on China and Russia.
  • Has no end date, and remains in force even if Greenland becomes independent from Denmark.

Trump described it as giving the United States “permanent control over security and all other needs on that territory.” He added: “No U.S. adversary will ever be permitted to establish a military presence in Greenland anymore.”

Everyone gets something

The Danish and Greenlandic leaders got what they needed, too. Frederiksen emphasized the “territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, as well as Greenland’s right to self-determination,” and said the deal can “last forever.” Nielsen said, “This agreement should put to rest any doubt today and in the future about where Greenland’s loyalty lies.”

That is the shape of the outcome. Denmark keeps sovereignty. Greenland keeps its path to self-determination. And the United States locks in the military access, missile-defense real estate and veto over rival powers that actually matter for American security, on an island that sits astride the polar approaches to North America. The agreement still needs approval from the Danish and Greenlandic parliaments.

The other side of the ledger

Critics have a case to make. The agreement stops well short of Trump’s original demand that Greenland become American territory. It reaffirms Greenland’s place in the Kingdom of Denmark, and Trump’s “permanent control” language goes further than the text, which preserves Danish sovereignty. The road here also cost real goodwill with Denmark and other European allies, who spent the winter fending off tariff threats over the island.

That is a fair debate about tactics. But it does not change the essential point: the terms are real, they are permanent, and they bind even an independent Greenland to NATO and to U.S. basing. Whatever might have been available in theory, no one had signed it. Now it is signed.

Trump opened with a demand so big that his critics called it lunacy, absorbed months of insults from Washington and European capitals, and closed with a signed agreement that gives America what it needs in the Arctic while letting Copenhagen and Nuuk say they gave up nothing. It is a pattern his opponents keep underestimating.

Gallego called him an idiot, and Trump walked away with a permanent American foothold in the Arctic.

Sources

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