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This prompted the US to build a number of military bases during the Second World War, including Thule Air Base, airfields, and a military hospital. The agreement was finally ratified by the Folketing after the end of the war on 16 May 1945.[6] By the end of World War II, the U.S. had built or expanded 17 facilities, including air bases including Narsarsuaq and Kangerlussuaq.

Following the Second World War, the sovereignty and defence of Greenland returned to Denmark. The United States continued to be interested in a permanent military presence due to the increasing tensions of the Cold War; however, Greenland was expected to remain under sole Danish control by the public. A US proposal to buy Greenland was rejected by the Danish government, as the Danes felt a paternalistic, "White Man's Burden"-like responsibility for its people.

On 27 April 1951, Denmark and the United States signed the Greenland Defense Agreement. The US accepted the legal obligation to help defend Greenland if necessary, within the framework of NATO. The agreement allowed the US to keep its three main military bases in Greenland—Thule, Narsarsuaq and Sondestrom—and to establish new bases or "defense areas" if deemed necessary by NATO.[9] The agreement allows US troops to freely use and move between these bases. The US military was given jurisdiction over the defense areas,[10] but agreed not to infringe upon Danish sovereignty in Greenland.[9] The military airbase in Narsarsuaq was developed into a joint base of Danish and American troops.[11][12] The 2004 Igaliku Agreement stated that the US must inform Denmark and Greenland of any proposed changes.[13]

The United States built a secret nuclear-powered base, called Camp Century, in the Greenland ice sheet in 1959.[18] This was part of Project Iceworm, a top secret United States Army program which aimed to build a network of mobile nuclear missile launch sites under the Greenland ice sheet. The goal was to install a vast network of nuclear missile launch sites that could survive a first strike. The base and the project were abandoned in the late 1960s.