Burnham congratulates Denmark on the Greenland deal; Davey calls it a "pretend" victory

The deal. The United States, Denmark and Greenland said on Friday they had reached an agreement for the US to broaden its military footprint in the self-governed Danish territory while preventing adversary nations from establishing bases there, The Independent reports. Key terms — the scale of the build-up, and whether authority over foreign policy and resources passes to Washington — "have not yet been made public".

The same claim, three ways.

London argues about Trump, not Greenland. Downing Street said Prime Minister Andy Burnham congratulated Mette Frederiksen "on negotiating a deal benefiting the US, Greenland and Denmark". Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey told his party conference the deal is "almost a carbon copy of the agreement that's persisted since the 1950s", and that "Europe, Nato, countries like Canada stood up to him and won".

Not settled. Whether the text differs from the old arrangement — Davey's claim, which no report we hold tests against it. Whether sovereignty is untouched, when the terms that would show it are unpublished. And the signing: The Independent alone says it is expected during the UN General Assembly.

What this is about. The United States wants more soldiers, ships and bases on Greenland, and has now agreed terms for that with the two governments that share authority over the island.

Who governs Greenland. Greenland is an Arctic island that belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark. Since home rule in 1979 and the self-government act of 2009 it has had its own parliament and government in the capital, Nuuk, running domestic affairs, while Copenhagen keeps foreign affairs and defence and Greenlanders hold a recognised right to seek independence. American forces have been on the island since the Second World War, formalised in a 1951 defence agreement with Denmark — the arrangement Ed Davey means when he says "the agreement that's persisted since the 1950s". Denmark and the United States are both founding members of Nato, which is why The Independent calls Denmark "the Nato ally".

How it got here. Donald Trump returned to the US presidency in January 2025, having proposed buying Greenland during his first term in 2019. The Independent reports that this deal follows "months of threatening to take the island by force", and that Denmark and Greenland hoped it would end the uncertainty those threats caused. On Friday the three governments announced agreement; on Saturday Trump said he had a deal; on Sunday morning the British and Danish prime ministers discussed it by telephone.

Why each actor is in it. Denmark is the sovereign state and the party that negotiated. Greenland is the territory being built on and the government that has to answer to the people living there. The United States wants the Arctic bases. Britain and France are Nato allies with no formal role — which is why their leaders are commenting rather than signing.

What is at stake. If the deal is what Copenhagen describes, Denmark keeps sovereignty and Greenland keeps self-determination while the American presence grows. If Trump's reading holds — that the US will "FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland" — a Nato member has conceded control over its own territory after being threatened. The published terms do not settle which.

Where it stands. Announced, not signed. Welcomed in London, dismissed as unchanged by the British opposition, and met with scepticism in Nuuk that no report we hold lets anyone voice at length.