Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has repeatedly insisted that Washington needed to control Greenland for strategic reasons, alarming NATO ally Denmark and sparking fierce pushback from the alliance.

Denmark and Greenland — an autonomous Danish territory — both hailed the agreement and said they would sign it on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week.

“A long period of uncertainty will hopefully be replaced by a binding agreement that strengthens security in the Arctic and North Atlantic,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in a social media post on Saturday.

The deal respected Denmark’s “red lines” and was “important” in light of a changed security situation, he said.

‘Permanent control’

While the terms are still unclear, Denmark maintains that its sovereignty remains intact.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the agreement with Washington “recognises the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination”.

It was “good for NATO and Europe”, she said.

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said the deal “recognises Greenland’s interests” and “strengthens” its security.

In Greenland’s capital Nuuk, residents had mixed feelings.

“I don’t know exactly what the agreement is or what has been signed. But whenever the US and Trump are mentioned, I have mixed feelings. I’m not entirely comfortable with how much attention Greenland has right now,” Soren Kreutzmann, a 29-year-old hairdresser, told AFP.

“We hope the leaders have made a good agreement, because our country needs to be protected, both from the air and sea. Denmark had not given that enough attention for many years,” said Bibbi Kleist Jepsen, a 64-year-old pedagogue.

Trump hailed the deal as an “’Infinite Life’ Agreement, there is no end!”. Washington would immediately start building up a large military presence in the territory, he added.

“From now on, no US adversary can EVER have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval.”

While Trump presented the deal as a major triumph, Danish commentators said he had likely gained little.

They noted that, under a 1951 defence pact updated in 2004, Washington was already able to ramp up its military presence on the island provided it informs Denmark and Greenland in advance.

“Shhh. Don’t tell Trump that it’s the Kingdom of Denmark that has prevailed,” US correspondent Jacob Heinel Jensen wrote in Danish newspaper Berlingske on Saturday.

Ulrik Pram Gad, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, said Trump “obviously didn’t get in this agreement what he originally set out to have, that is, sovereign control over all of Greenland as a part of the United States”.

China, Russia concerns

Trump has repeatedly warned of Russia and China trying to establish a foothold in Greenland as a strategic battle unfolds for supremacy in a warming Arctic. The State Department left no doubt that they would not be allowed to do so.

“This agreement guarantees that China and Russia cannot have a base in Greenland, they cannot send troops to Greenland, and the necessary mechanisms are in place to prevent investment in sensitive sectors,” a State Department official said.

Gad noted that while Russia had little interest in Greenland, China was investing in extractive industries to get a foothold in the Arctic.

“The US is worried that any kind of Chinese footprint could be turned into military assets,” he said.

Cautioning that the details of the deal remained unknown, Gad said “the worrisome thing here is this exclusive access for the US to build bases in Greenland and how that involves NATO allies from Europe.

“Trump has been flirting with breaking up the NATO alliance… If Europe is an adversary, how would that position Europe, Denmark and Greenland in that situation?”

Furthermore, “if the US can also veto European investments in Greenland, that would be highly controversial.”

Several media outlets have reported that Washington wants to open three new military bases in southern Greenland, in addition to the Pituffik base it already has in the north of the territory.

At the height of the crisis, Trump would not rule out using force to seize the territory of 57,000 inhabitants, sowing anxiety within the EU and NATO.

Tensions have since eased. In an apparent move to assuage Trump, NATO launched a mission to bolster security in the Arctic.

The government delegation included Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Sanaullah and Punjab Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique.

The JI delegation comprised Deputy Emir Liaquat Baloch, Acting Secretary General Nazir Ahmad Janjua, Special Assistant to the JI Emir Umair Idrees, JI Lahore Emir Ziauddin Ansari and Information Secretary Shakeel Ahmad Tarrabi.

During the talks, the government delegation requested the JI to postpone the long march in view of security threats.

However, Baloch said the long march would remain necessary until the levy imposed on the public was withdrawn.

The government levies Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel. The JI has been staging regular sit-ins in Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi and dozens of other locations across the country since August 16 to protest the levy.

The government delegation assured the JI that extraordinary relief would soon be provided to the people. It also said the government was under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and that an IMF delegation was expected to visit Pakistan shortly.

Baloch said the government must take practical steps to address the people’s demands; otherwise, the JI would definitely proceed with its protest and long march.

He said that, as per the schedule, the “Super Long March” under the leadership of the JI emir would begin from Karachi on Sunday.

Talks between the JI and the government began on Sept 7 and have so far comprised four inconclusive rounds. The fifth round on Saturday also ended without an agreement.

‘No turning back’

Earlier, the party dug its heels in over its planned march, refusing to call it off unless the government abolishes the petroleum levy, with party chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman announcing that protest caravans from across the country would begin moving toward the capital on Sunday.

“If the rulers cannot abolish the levy, we cannot call off our march,” Rehman said at a press conference in Mansoorah, setting the stage for a potential standoff with the authorities.

The government, equipped with a recent Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruling against activities that curtail the freedom of movement, is determined to prevent rallies from disrupting traffic and the normal flow of life in the federal capital.

Rehman promised peaceful protest and warned the government not to take any action against the protesters.

“A public rally will be held in Karachi on Saturday night, before the caravans set out for Islamabad on September 20,” he said.

The JI chief urged the government to present a concrete proposal for abolishing the petroleum levy, noting the party had already rejected the government’s fuel relief package as inadequate.

Under the government’s current relief scheme, eligible motorcycles, rickshaws, Qingqi rickshaws and cars up to 800cc are to receive a subsidy of Rs100 per litre, subject to specified monthly limits.

Rehman said relief was not a favour but a right of the people, accusing the government of avoiding structural measures to reduce the burden on consumers, saying petroleum prices had a direct impact on the cost of essential commodities across the country.

He claimed that up to Rs107 per litre was being collected as petroleum levy on petrol, in addition to other taxes.

The JI chief criticised the government for failing to curb corruption and what he described as “excessive official expenditure”, saying officials should reduce their own spending instead of asking the people to make sacrifices.

To absorb the economic impact of renewed tensions in the Middle East, the government has reintroduced austerity measures, reducing fuel provision for official vehicles by 50 per cent for a period of three months.

Islamabad march

Rehman noted that the JI’s protest movement had entered its 35th day, with more than 25 sit-ins continuing across the country. He said the party had held peaceful demonstrations in 42 cities and claimed that the movement had now become a national issue.

“We are marching for the people with their support. There is no question of turning back,” he said, insisting that the number of sit-ins was being gradually reduced as part of the JI’s strategy for the Islamabad march.

The JI chief said the government had again contacted the party for talks, but repeatedly sought more time.

“If the government does not listen to talks, it will have to listen to public pressure,” he said.

On the PTI’s protest planned for September 27 for its incarcerated founder Imran Khan, Rehman said peaceful protest was a constitutional right of every political party and that containers should not be placed to block PTI demonstrations.

He said the JI supported the PTI’s right to peaceful protest, while the PTI had also supported the JI’s right to do so.

Economic policies criticised

On negotiations, Rehman said the government had repeatedly asked the JI to submit suggestions, although, he argued, it was the government’s responsibility to address public grievances.

He recalled that his party had already presented proposals during previous rounds of talks, but the government did not accept them.

Rehman also criticised the government’s economic policies, calling for a reduction in interest rates and questioning the State Bank of Pakistan’s autonomy. He argued that the government’s role in appointments to the central bank raised questions about its independence.

He further accused the government of using the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as an excuse for withholding relief from the public while continuing what he described as lavish official expenditure.

Citing foreign travel by senior officials and expenses incurred at official meetings, the JI chief called on Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to sell her official aircraft, which he valued at Rs11 billion.

Turning to the sugar and wheat sectors, the party chief alleged that powerful groups and cartels were influencing government decisions on imports and exports, further alleging farmers were not receiving adequate prices for wheat and sugarcane, contributing to higher food prices.

He also criticised payments to independent power producers (IPPs), saying Rs1.8 trillion was being paid in capacity payments. He further questioned payments to regasification plants despite what he described as gas shortages.

JI Acting Secretary General Nazir Ahmad Janjua, Vice Emir Dr Usama Razi and Deputy Secretary Azhar Iqbal Hassan were also present at the press conference.

On Friday, Rehman claimed the party’s protest movement aimed to press the government for immediate economic relief, asserting that the national exchequer could save between Rs3 trillion and Rs4 trillion if the authorities adopted the party’s proposed fiscal reforms.

This is the first time since Yemen’s long-standing civil war resumed that it has threatened the Saudi capital, further shaking a global economy already under pressure by nearly seven months of war between the United States and Iran.

“In response to the Saudi enemy’s criminal attempts to target the capital Sana’a… the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out two successful military operations using a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said, in a statement on Telegram.

“The first targeted sensitive sites in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and the second targeted Aramco facilities in Yanbu.”

The Houthi statement came after firefighters extinguished a blaze on a fuel tank emblazoned with the logo of the Saudi oil giant Aramco at a fuel depot near Riyadh’s international airport on Saturday, according to an AFP journalist.

Smoke plume near Riyadh airport

A large plume of smoke was visible near Riyadh’s main airport after booms were heard and Saudi Arabia sent alerts overnight warning of potential danger around the capital, amid an escalation in attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Reuters video and photographs showed a huge pillar of black smoke rising in the area, with the airport highway, main terminal building and other facilities in the foreground.

Aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24 reported major issues at the Saudi capital’s Riyadh King Khalid International Airport, including cancellations and delays.

The airport was listed under the site’s maximum disruption index of 5.0, meaning the airport was seeing “major problems with long delays and several cancelled flights”.

There was no immediate comment from the Saudi government’s media office in response to Reuters’ questions about the smoke and the overnight alerts.

Saudi civil defence sent the alerts by phone overnight for potential danger in Riyadh and the city of Al-Kharj east of the capital, before issuing an all-clear on Saturday morning.

“The area is under a hostile aerial threat,” said a message received just before 3:00am by Riyadh residents, urging them to stay indoors.

AFP journalists then heard two explosions, before the Saudi civil defence agency lifted the alert half an hour later. A Reuters journalist in Riyadh’s Olaya area also heard booms before the all-clear was sent.

“I heard the alarm, then my windows shook,” a Riyadh resident, 27, living in the city’s north, told AFP. “It was definitely scary. I was not expecting this.”

Another resident described the attack as “terrifying”.

“I was extremely anxious — especially because, unlike previous times, the ‘all-clear’ signal didn’t come right away,” the central Riyadh resident said.

Saudi Arabia has not commented on the threat mentioned in the warnings sent overnight to residents of several regions and has not identified where it originated from.

Although some alerts had been issued in Riyadh this year after the start of the US-Iran war, these were the first since the escalation began with the Houthis in July.

The incident comes days after Riyadh accused the Houthis of targeting Makkah on Wednesday, denouncing it as a “cowardly terrorist attack” on the holy city, which welcomes millions of pilgrims each year.

Houthis strongly denied the accusation, calling it a “worn-out lie”.

Houthi attacks

The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen and much of the north, have been launching attacks towards Saudi Arabia since declaring a naval blockade against Riyadh in July, with strikes targeting Saudi vessels in the Red Sea.

The attacks have created new threats to global oil supplies, putting at risk trade via Bab al-Mandab — the main alternative Red Sea route for Gulf exports — while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains blockaded.

The Houthis insist there is no threat to shipping in the sea lane — except for Saudi ships, from the world’s leading crude exporter.

On Friday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had foiled unspecified “criminal attempts” in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, blaming Saudi Arabia and vowing a response.

The group, which seized Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast in a lightning advance this month, says the Saudi Air Force has conducted hundreds of airstrikes against it in recent days.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) in a statement on Friday “condemned in the strongest terms continued Houthi attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including attacks impacting civilian and energy infrastructure, which have resulted in the injury of civilians, including women and children”.

In the statement, the UNSC also condemned “Houthi military escalation in Yemen”.

The US, according to Axios, last week refused to strike the Houthis at Saudi Arabia’s request.

On Thursday, Washington approved a $24.3 billion sale of 48 F-35 fighter jets to the kingdom to help Riyadh “deter current and future threats”, the US State Department said.

The attack targeting Riyadh comes as the Houthis improve their defences in newly conquered territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coastline, with members of the group telling AFP they have been installing radar and digging tunnels.

The United Nations said on Friday that the renewed fighting had displaced more than 112,000 people while nearly 3,000 others had fled across the sea to Djibouti.

The war in Yemen broke out in 2014 when the Houthis seized control of the capital Sanaa and other regions, triggering a military intervention led by Saudi Arabia in March 2015.

The fragile truce reached in 2022 between the warring parties collapsed in July, when the Houthis defied Riyadh’s control of Yemeni airspace by allowing an Iranian aircraft to land in Yemen.