President Donald Trump announced today that the United States “needs to own” Greenland. “We’ll have to do a lot of leasing things, because we are so far in terms of technology,” Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to military leases. He cautioned that if the U.S. does not take charge of the territory, Russia or China will take it in time.
“You protect ownership; you don’t protect leases,” Trump said, and that the U.S. would accomplish this “one way or the other,” either “easy way” or “the hard way.” These remarks come after a tense week in which the U.S. military invaded Venezuela using force, stoking fears that the administration has set its sights on Greenland as its next target for annexation.
A Strategic Fortress in the North
Greenland is the largest island in the world, strategically located between North America and Europe. For the United States, it is a “front door” for defence. The U.S. already operates the Pituffik Space Base (formerly known as Thule) in the far north of the island. The base here is equipped with powerful radar systems that can track incoming missiles across the North Pole.
Trump says Russian and Chinese ships are “all over the place” near Greenland, though he offered no evidence for this. A 100-year lease, he says, is too dangerous because it can be annulled. To him, controlling the land is the sole means of preventing “neighbours” like Moscow or Beijing from meddling in the Western Hemisphere.
Denmark and NATO Allies Push Back
Denmark, which handles Greenland’s security and foreign policy, has unequivocally refused the idea. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said an American strike against another NATO member would be “the end of everything” for the alliance. They have been joined by European leaders from France, Germany and the UK who have voiced their support for Denmark and reiterated that it is for only the people of Greenland to determine its future.
Greenland’s own leaders were even more direct. In a joint statement, they said they don’t want to be American or even part of the Danish kingdom forever, but that they are eager to be Greenlanders. “We are not up for sale,” they repeated, labelling the American language “entirely unacceptable” and ignoring their country’s sovereignty.
Resources Under the Melting Ice of Greenland
Besides military strategy, Greenland is becoming strategically important because of climate change. As the island’s colossal ice sheet melts, it is revealing not just stunning views of a vast subglacial canyon, but also what appear to be enormous and ancient rivers hundreds of miles long. They’re things like:
• Rare Earth Minerals: Necessary for high-tech electronics and green energy.
• Uranium and Iron: They are important materials for industry and power.
• Oil and Gas: An estimated billion barrels of oil could be resting beneath the Arctic’s waters.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to visit Danish officials next week in an effort to cool some of the rhetoric around the debate. But with the Trump administration declining to do so, at least not “the hard way”, the Arctic now finds itself in contention as one of the most dangerous wild cards in global politics.
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