Carla Sands, former U.S. ambassador to Denmark, called the newly signed U.S.-Greenland-Denmark security agreement an “absolute amazing deal” during an exclusive interview Wednesday with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy.
“I think everybody wanted this deal, and isn’t that really the goal of every deal, is that nobody comes away feeling like they’re a loser?” Sands said during Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show. “Everybody got some or most of what they wanted in this deal, and so I think it’s a triple header. I think it’s an absolute amazing deal…and something that presidents have been trying to get done for 150 years.”
President Donald Trump signed the agreement Tuesday with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The agreement allows the U.S. to expand its military presence on Greenland, including two planned military facilities at Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland and Mestersvig on the island’s east coast.
Sands, who served as Trump’s ambassador to Denmark during his first administration, said Trump’s initial proposal to purchase Greenland ultimately helped establish the framework for negotiations.
“He wrote that book, The Art of the Deal, and I recommend every one of your listeners buy it and read it to get the idea of how he works,” Sands said. “But when people, like when they wig out over things that he says, you know, he’s setting the table and saying, ‘This is where I’m heading. The puck is heading in this direction.’ And then it’s where are you gonna come in on that deal to close the deal?”
Sands said Greenland’s desire for greater independence was also an important factor in the agreement.
“But this deal, it gives them that pathway to have the financial success so that they can go independent,” she said.
As the agreement also provides the U.S. with expanded military access in Greenland, Sands said the United States’ investment in Greenland would strengthen its Arctic defense capabilities.
She also pointed to the strategic importance of Greenland as the U.S. seeks to counter Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic.
“This forever deal means that when Greenland goes independent, they’re not gonna say, ‘Hey, China, we want you to be our- security partner.’ They’re already their biggest trading partner. But instead, it gives the United States the authority and the power to have the regional defense…Alaska, which is over there on the Pacific, and now we have Greenland in the Atlantic, and so that is a really great buffer against that giant force of Russia, which controls most of the Arctic coast,” Sands said.
“So this is powerful. It’s a defense, but it’s offense too, and it’s also essential to trade,” she added.
Sands went on to describe the agreement as part of a broader effort to strengthen the U.S. position in the Arctic and North Atlantic.
“It’s beyond clever. It’s brilliant, and other world leaders wish they could think like this, so outside the box and so big,” Sands said. “[Trump] thinks big, and he doesn’t do small ball. He does big ball.”
Sands said the agreement could also lead to additional development and U.S. investment in Greenland.
“We’ll build those two bases. We’ll put a lot more listening devices around, I’m sure,” she said. “And then, when you think about China being the biggest trading partner of Greenland, that may start to change, and they may lean more toward the West rather than China, hopefully.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Ambassador Carla Sands” by Carla Sands.
