Denmark's leaders are cautiously optimistic about Trump's announcement of a Greenland deal

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark's government was cautiously optimistic on Saturday about Donald Trump's announcement of a deal on Greenland to bolster U.S. military presence there but keep the island under Danish control, following months of threats by the U.S. president to seize the semiautonomous territory of a NATO ally.

In Greenland, the Arctic island's top leaders echoed that stance and said the deal had been long in coming.

Trump said on Friday that the agreement would give the United States “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many U.S. concerns.”

Denmark and the U.S. already have a long-standing security agreement that has allowed the U.S. to deploy forces in Greenland and it was not immediately clear how this deal was different from that.

After Trump's announcement Friday, the office of Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said the deal will be signed by all three governments next week during the United Nations General Assembly, but parliamentary action is still needed by the Danish and Greenland governments before it can be enforced.

“Next week could be a good week … for Greenland, Denmark, and the United States alike,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen wrote on Instagram Saturday morning.

“A period of uncertainty will hopefully be replaced by a binding agreement that strengthens security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic — and thus also our shared security within NATO and Europe — while respecting the Kingdom’s red lines,” he added.

Greenland’s government leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen said he was happy about the deal which he said “benefits not only our collective security, but also the continued development here in the country.”

The foreign minister of Greenland, Múte B. Egede, said he was pleased that “we now have an agreement within reach.”

“It has taken some time,” he told Denmark’s TV2 broadcaster. “I’m pleased that we finally have an end product within reach. And it’s about time.”

Trump said that with the agreement, the U.S. would “immediately” begin the process of developing a larger military presence on the mineral-rich Danish territory.

The U.S. had long held several bases and installations on the Arctic territory through the Cold War, before dialing back its presence.

It still operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, built after the U.S. and Denmark signed the Defense of Greenland Treaty in 1951. It supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.

A U.S. State Department official said the agreement bans any non-NATO base in Greenland, limits adversaries from being able to make investments in Greenland, and guarantees that China and Russia cannot have a base on the island. The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

U.S., Greenlandic and Danish officials had quietly negotiated for months behind the scenes, searching for solutions to address some of Trump’s security concerns about a territory of roughly 56,000 residents.

With the announcement of the pact, Trump is able to tout a foreign policy achievement ahead of the midterm elections in the U.S.

After his return to the White House, Trump had called on Denmark to sell the island to the U.S., while insisting Greenland is crucial for U.S. security. He pointedly wouldn’t rule out taking the island by military force, even though Denmark is a NATO ally of the U.S.

Denmark and Greenland repeatedly said the island is not for sale and condemned reports of the U.S. gathering intelligence there. The U.S. push for Greenland was also fiercely opposed by Russia and much of Europe.

Greenland grassroots pro-sovereignty activist Orla Joelsen wrote on X that “our fight against Trump’s ambition to take over Greenland has been won.”

“The new agreement explicitly recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination,” the activist added.

Grieshaber reported from Berlin.

FILE - Two groups from the Poseidon Expeditions tour company look at a glacier in the Scoresby Sund, Sept. 7, 2023, in Greenland. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola, File)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event about healthcare in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday Sept. 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

From right, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and the Faroe Islands' Prime Minister Beinir Johannesen visit Qooqqut, Greenland Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

FILE - Houses covered in snow are seen on the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

FILE - Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Greenland's government leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen visit Qoornoq, Greenland on Sept. 6, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)

Saudi Arabia warned of a “hostile aerial threat” and issued a string of emergency alerts across the kingdom, including in its capital, late Friday and early Saturday.

Also Saturday, Iran’s state TV reported that a man was executed after being convicted on charges of spying for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. Full coverage is available here.

Saudi Arabia warned of a “hostile aerial threat” after issuing emergency alerts, and at least one explosion was heard in Riyadh.

The alert in Riyadh was the first for the Saudi capital since the latest escalation with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

No casualties or damage were reported after the alerts were lifted. Saudi authorities didn't say what prompted the alerts or the cause of the audible explosions, but they previously reported intercepting incoming Houthi missiles and drones.

The U.N.’s most powerful body said late Friday that the Houthis' military escalation, attacks and threats “risk further expanding the conflict, threatening maritime security and international trade,” while undermining regional and international efforts to secure peace in Yemen.

It warned that continued escalation would exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation in the country.

The council's 15 members called for “practical cooperation” to prevent the Iran-backed Houthis from acquiring arms, military training, financing and other military-related assistance needed to carry out their attacks. They stressed that all countries must enforce the U.N. arms embargo against the rebel group.

Iran's state TV reported on Saturday that a man identified as Hossein Pedram was executed after being convicted on charges of spying for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad.

The report said Pedram passed on to Israel classified information on “sensitive military sites” in Iran's Isfahan province. It didn't say how he accessed the classified information.

Pedram was reportedly arrested after those sites, which included missile bases, were targeted in the 12-day air war by the U.S. and Israel against Iran in June last year.

A recent surge of executions in Iran prompted an international outcry by human rights groups.

Iran’s state TV reported Saturday that the Tehran prosecutor’s office filed charges against race organizers after women participated without covering their hair because “legal and Islamic Sharia” wasn’t observed.

The country's ruling theocracy requires women to wear scarves that cover their hair and loose-fitting clothes that hide their entire bodies.

Footage circulated online showing many women running the 10-kilometer (6-mile) race without the mandatory hair covering. Habib Sotoudehnejad, head of Tehran’s sports department, said Saturday that about 5% of participants violated race rules.

The race was run separately for men and women.

Hard liners in Iran seek harsh penalties against women who appear in public without covering their hair.

Turkey's banking watchdog, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, revoked the operating license for the Istanbul branch of Iran's Bank Mellat.

The agency said Saturday that it made the decision to protect depositors or the stability of the Turkey's financial system.

The announcement comes as the United States is demanding other countries tighten economic measures against Iran.

Bank Mellat has been subject to Western sanctions for years and was named in 2019 as having links to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps. The U.S. Treasury Department earlier this month imposed sanctions on a Turkish investment bank and two subsidiaries over alleged ties to Iran.

This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

Supporters of Yemen's Houthi rebels raise their rifles during a rally in support of the group and to protest Saudi Arabia's accusation that the Houthis targeted Islam's holiest site of Mecca, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

A supporter of Yemen’s Houthi rebels wears a poster showing the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque, tucked into a decorative sash above a dagger, during a rally to protest Saudi Arabia's accusation that the Houthis targeted Islam's holiest site, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. Arabic reads, "Our souls are sacrificed for it". (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

A soldier from Yemen's Houthi rebels stands in front of a giant banner of the Kaaba, during a rally to protest Saudi Arabia's accusation that the Houthis targeted Islam's holiest site in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)