Anders Lomholt says the Greenland deal could resemble a ceding of sovereignty if it goes as far as Trump suggests
Anders LomholtDefense correspondent at TV 2 (Denmark), in a signed 'Lynanalyse' (flash analysis) entry in TV 2's live blog 'Kampen om Grønlands fremtid'
TV 2 defense correspondent Anders Lomholt wrote, in a signed flash analysis in the outlet's live blog, that reaching an agreement looks on its face like a big win for diplomacy but depends entirely on the agreement's actual content. He added that if it goes as far as Trump suggests it would in several respects resemble a ceding of sovereignty, citing a possible U.S. veto over who may have a military presence in Greenland. The quotation is a translation from Danish.
“But it depends entirely on the agreement's actual content. If it goes as far as Trump suggests, it looks in several respects like a ceding of sovereignty.”
Original text
Official statement
Analysis
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Trump’s “permanent control” description of the announced U.S.-Denmark-Greenland security agreement
On September 18, 2026, President Donald Trump announced an agreement with Denmark and Greenland that he said gives the United States “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland.” Danish and Greenlandic officials initially described an expected agreement and emphasized sovereignty and self-determination. On September 22, the White House published an agreement text dated that day. It reaffirms Denmark’s sovereignty and Greenland’s right to self-determination; provides for U.S. defense areas and access under stated procedures; bars non-NATO states from establishing military installations unless the parties agree otherwise; and has no end date. The text says it enters into force only after diplomatic notice of necessary parliamentary procedures. The dispute remains over how Trump’s “permanent control” description compares with the document’s terms.
Source and context
Original text
About this source
Cited from the trumpstruth.org archive mirror, which shows the full text, the original post date (Friday, September 18, 2026, 05:18 pm EDT), the Truth Social status ID and the original URL https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/117294126158197822. We could not read the original post on Truth Social. The post says the United States “has entered into an Agreement,” whereas the Danish and Greenlandic release describes an expected agreement still to be signed. The identical text was posted on Trump’s X account (separate source). This page was captured by the mirror on September 19, 2026 at 11:51 AM EDT; the mirror’s later Truth Social entries through 12:52 PM EDT that day, including the transcript of a 1:06 AM video, do not mention Greenland.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Official statement
About this source
Context only (supports the text before the quotation, not the quotation itself). Official English version of the release; it says the three governments are expected to sign at the UN General Assembly next week, subject to national parliamentary procedures, and that there are no further comments. The release is dated 9/18/2026 with no time shown; TV 2's live blog logged 'Statsministeriet bekræfter aftale' at 23.39 Copenhagen time.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Analysis
About this source
TV 2's rolling live blog on the Greenland dispute; the page URL is dated 2025-01-06 and has run for about 20 months, so each entry must be dated by its own timestamp (here 2026-09-18 22:04:33 UTC, shown as 'Kl. 00.04'). The English is our translation ('suverænitetsafgivelse' rendered 'ceding of sovereignty'; 'surrender' would be a stronger rendering). Original Danish of the quoted passage: 'Men det afhænger fuldstændig af aftalens reelle indhold. Hvis den går så vidt, som Trump antyder, ligner det på flere stræk en suverænitetsafgivelse.' Not archived.
Reporting
About this source
Context only, not a source for the quotation. TV 2 news summary in the same live blog; its list of open questions says the agreement's exact content has not been published and that signing is expected next week in New York.
Before the quotation
Less than an hour earlier, at 5:18 PM EDT, President Trump posted on Truth Social that the United States had entered into an agreement with Denmark and Greenland giving it permanent control over security and all other needs in Greenland. Earlier that evening, the Danish Prime Minister's Office issued a release with statements from Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's government chair Jens-Frederik Nielsen saying the three governments were expected to sign an agreement the following week; the agreement text had not been published.
After the quotation
The next morning (06.50 Copenhagen time), TV 2's live blog listed the agreement's exact content among the questions still unanswered, saying it had not been made public, and reported that signing was expected the following week in New York.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Lomholt says reaching an agreement looks on its face like a big diplomatic win, that this depends entirely on its actual content, and that if it goes as far as Trump suggests it would in several respects resemble a ceding of sovereignty; he neither accepts nor rejects Trump's description and says the answer awaits the text. The closest competing label is condemns, because he calls the version Trump suggests, if accurate, a ceding of sovereignty. That loses because the criticism is expressly conditional, sits beside his description of the agreement as possibly a big win for diplomacy, and he closes by saying the outcome cannot be known until the agreement becomes a reality.
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- Anders Lomholt says the Greenland deal could resemble a ceding of sovereignty if it goes as far as Trump suggests
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The Dispute Index. "Anders Lomholt says the Greenland deal could resemble a ceding of sovereignty if it goes as far as Trump suggests". First published: 2026-09-19. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1206-tv-2-defense-correspondent-anders-lomholt-wrote-in