Trump Says 'We Own Greenland.' The Deal Has No End Date, Two New Bases and No Room for Rivals

President Trump told a packed arena in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday that America got Greenland, and that almost nobody noticed. "We own Greenland. We work it with Denmark," he said. "We signed a very good agreement with great lawyers, infinite period of time. No limits, no nothing."

Then he took a shot at the coverage. "I didn't read any stories about it," he said. He recalled the months of "How dare he treat Denmark that way?" coverage. When the deal actually got signed, the press went quiet.

The write-ups that followed the rally mostly argued over the word "own." Here's the part they skipped: what's actually in the deal. The full text is posted by the White House. It's 12 articles long, and it reads a lot more like Trump's version than his critics'.

'Does not have an end date'

Start with "infinite period of time." Article XI is titled "Permanent nature of this Agreement." Its first line: "This Agreement does not have an end date and may only be amended by mutual consent." Any change takes all three governments signing off.

It goes further. If Greenland ever votes for independence, Denmark and Greenland must make sure the new state agrees "to remain in NATO" and takes on "all of the rights and obligations" in the agreement from day one. Independence doesn't cancel the deal. The new country inherits it.

Denmark's own prime minister said the same thing at the signing in New York on Sept. 22. "Today, we are signing an even bigger and better agreement," Mette Frederiksen said, "a deal that can last forever." That's from the White House's signing release, which quotes all three leaders.

'Every right you could possibly have'

Trump's other line was that America now has "every right you could possibly have." Here's the list.

Bases. The U.S. can modernize and expand Pituffik Space Base, the old Thule Air Base and America's northernmost installation. It gets new defense areas at Narsarsuaq in the south and Mestersvig on the east coast. Either side can propose more, and if talks stall for 90 days they go up to the deputy-minister and then minister level.

Reach. "United States aircraft may fly over and land in any territory in Greenland," the text says, and U.S. public vessels get undersea access to Greenland's territorial waters, "without restriction except as mutually agreed." Unmanned U.S. military installations outside the bases get accelerated approval.

Golden Dome. The preamble ties American access to defending "the American continent, including through establishment of a Golden Dome defense system."

Rivals locked out

This is the part that matters most, and it's the part Trump fought hardest for. Article IX: "No state that is not a member of NATO shall be allowed to establish its own manned or unmanned military installations in Greenland nor shall they be allowed a persistent presence of military forces in Greenland."

Article X does the same for money. Citing "increased efforts by adversaries to expand influence and control in Greenland," it bars states and investors from outside NATO, NATO partner countries and the EU from control, "significant influence" or access to sensitive information in critical infrastructure and "the extraction of resources," the minerals China has long eyed. Denmark has to consult closely with U.S. authorities on that screening. And under Article VII, America can flag any construction near its bases that threatens them.

The White House summed it up the day it was signed: permanent basing rights, at "no cost to American taxpayers," and no U.S. adversary allowed a base, military presence or sensitive investment "without America's approval."

What's left

One step remains on the other side of the Atlantic. Under Article XII, the deal takes effect when Denmark notifies Washington that its parliament and Greenland's have finished their procedures.

The bottom line: For months, Trump's Greenland push was covered as a crisis that could break NATO. It ended with a signed deal that has no end date, new American bases, U.S. planes cleared to land anywhere on the island and America's rivals barred from setting up shop. Denmark keeps its flag on the island. America gets the keys. In every way that matters for American security, Trump got what he asked for.