Trump already has open door to grow U.S. military presence in Greenland thanks to a little-known Cold War-era agreement between the U.S. and Denmark | Fortune

"Karoline Leavitt said Trump is considering a range of options in pursuit of the country, and that "utilising the U.S. military is always an option at the commander-in-chief's disposal.""

"In 1951, the U.S. and Denmark signed a little-known defense agreement allowing the U.S. "to improve and generally to fit the area for military use" in Greenland and "construct, install, maintain, and operate facilities and equipment" there."

""This agreement is very generous, it's very open," Mikkel Runge Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies in Copenhagen, told Fortune. "The U.S. would be able to achieve almost any security goal that you can imagine under that agreement.""

President Donald Trump has renewed threats to take over Greenland, with a White House spokesperson saying utilizing U.S. military forces is always an option. Foreign policy experts say Danish officials are baffled because a 1951 U.S.–Denmark defense agreement already permits broad U.S. military use and construction of facilities across Greenland. The 1951 agreement specifically allows the U.S. "to improve and generally to fit the area for military use" and to "construct, install, maintain, and operate facilities and equipment" there. A Danish researcher described the agreement as very generous and open and questioned the need for a takeover. Trump previously expressed interest in buying Greenland in 2019, which Denmark rebuffed, and his recent rhetoric has been framed alongside an asserted "Donroe Doctrine" after U.S. actions in Venezuela.

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