WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump announced Friday he has a deal with Denmark to bolster the US military presence in Greenland, after months of threatening to take the island by force from the NATO ally — an agreement that also keeps the Arctic territory in Denmark’s hands.

Trump, in a social media post announcing the deal, said the agreement “gives the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing all of our many US concerns.”

He added that with the agreement, his administration would “immediately” begin the process of developing a larger military presence on the mineral-rich Danish territory.

However, 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, and parliamentary action is still needed by the Danish and Greenland governments before it can be enforced.

In a statement she said “the agreement recognises the sovereignty and territorial integrity”

of Greenland and Denmark and upholds both people’s right “to self-determination.”

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said the emerging deal benefits all three governments and “recognises Greenland’s interests and our place in the international cooperation.”