Known for his provocative foreign policy, US President-elect Donald Trump, even before he is sworn in, is triggering global tensions with his outlandish remarks. His recent outbursts on acquiring Greenland, reclaiming the Panama Canal, and annexing Canada may sound like a joke but there are solid reasons, at least in case of Greenland, behind Trump's territorial ambitions.
Last month, Trump hinted he still wants to buy Greenland, a self-ruling territory of Denmark, saying that US ownership and control of the island is an “absolute necessity” for national security. The US President-elect reopened a debate from 2019, when he offered to buy what is the world’s biggest island, a proposal that was quickly rebuffed by Denmark at the time. Commenting on Trump’s post, Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede said that the island is “not for sale and will never be for sale.” However, a few days later, during his New Year's speech, Egede sought independence from Denmark, a move that many are attributing directly to the "Donald Trump effect." Egede expressed a strong desire for Greenland to determine its own future and break free from what he described as the "shackles of colonialism" imposed by Denmark.
Donald Trump Jr, son of US President-elect, visited Greenland, even as his father refused to rule out use of force in an attempt to control Greenland. In a post on Truth Social, Trump Jr posted a picture of himself holding the American flag alongside a group of people in Greenland wearing MAGA hats. "Greenland loves America and Trump!!! Incredible people with an equally awesome reception. They just want to be able to utilize some of the incredible resources that they have and allow themselves, their country, and their kids to flourish," Trump Jr posted.
Greenland gained autonomy in 1979, though the island still relies heavily on Denmark for financial support, as well as management of its monetary policy, defence and foreign relations.
The US has been eyeing Greenland for long
Of the eight countries with territory in the Arctic, the US has played the biggest role in Greenland after Denmark. It has had a military presence there since World War II, centred on the Pituffik Space Base, Washington’s northernmost military installation and a central piece of its ballistic missile warning system. With successive US administrations strengthening ties with Greenland, experts see independence as unlikely to upend the relationship. Despite a chilly reception to his desire to buy the island from Denmark during his previous term, Trump reopened the US consulate in Greenland and committed to giving it more than $12mn in aid. Under the Joe Biden administration, Washington signed a 12-year, $3.95bn deal to retain forces on the island, and it appointed the first US ambassador-at-large to the Arctic.
This is not the first time a US president has wanted to acquire Greenland. In 1867, when President Andrew Johnson bought Alaska, he also considered purchasing Greenland. At the end of World War II, the Truman administration offered Denmark $100 million for the island, according to documents first reported on by Danish media, CNN reported. Neither offer came to fruition, but under a 1951 defense treaty, the US got the Pituffik Space Base in northwest Greenland.
Why Trump wants Greenland
Greenland is turning out to be a prized target for superpowers the US, Russia and China to hold sway over the Arctic as the ice melts, making it more accessible, and Greenland's potential as a strategic location and resource-rich region emerges. A foothold in Greenland also gives control of Arctic routes for commercial shipping.
Last year, a new Pentagon strategy recommended continued investment in Pituffik Space Base, the U.S. Space Force base in Greenland. The US Defense Department must invest more to upgrade sensors, communications and space-based technologies in the Arctic to keep pace with China and Russia who are increasingly operating there, including in joint military exercises, the Pentagon said, as per an AP report. Defense Department leaders have, for more than the past decade, warned that the U.S. needs to step up its activities in the Arctic to better compete with China and Russia as climate change makes the frigid region more accessible.
The US has been aware of Greenland's strategic importance since the Cold War when it tried to build a secret missile base there. Recently, a NASA aircraft discovered a hidden Cold War-era military base under the Greenland ice sheet. The plane, equipped with ice-penetrating radar, located the remains of Camp Century during a survey. Camp Century was a US military base built in the 1960s as part of Project Iceworm. The project aimed to create a network of tunnels to house and launch nuclear missiles at the Soviet Union. The base was abandoned in 1967 due to high costs and unstable ice conditions.
With the US power contest with China and Russia amplifying, Trump would seek to leverage Greenland as a strategic foothold to contain expansion of Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic.
Another, and more important, reason is Greenland's natural resources which are becoming accessible with climate change as the ice melts. Undeveloped oil and gas resources are estimated to be the third-largest in the Arctic. Bloomberg reported that of 50 minerals designated as “critical” by the US, as many as 37 may be found in moderate or high quantities in Greenland, based on a geological survey published in 2023. This includes world-class deposits of rare earth elements; vital for a variety of industrial, energy transition and military applications but whose production is currently dominated by China.
Beijing is planning to curb the export of technology used to extract minerals critical for the growth of the global electric vehicle (EV) industry, as a tech rivalry with Washington escalates ahead of Trump's inauguration, CNN reported. China also wants to add battery cathode technology to its list of controlled exports, according to a notice published last week by China's commerce ministry soliciting public comment, on top of the proposed restrictions on technology related to producing lithium and gallium. If approved, the new additions would form a future round of export controls imposed by China on a slew of critical materials and the technology needed to produce them, which are crucial to manufacturing semiconductors and EV batteries.
Last month, China announced a ban on exports of several materials with high-tech and military applications, a tit-for-tat move after the US government escalated technology curbs on Beijing. China is the top global supplier of dozens of critical minerals, and concerns about its dominance have been mounting in Washington and other capitals. Gallium, germanium, antimony and superhard materials are no longer allowed to be shipped to America, while sales of graphite have been placed under tighter controls. The metals are used in everything from semiconductors to satellites and night-vision goggles.
Following China's export ban, antimony prices are likely to skyrocket as consumers seek alternative supplies. Reuters reported that prices of antimony, used in semiconductors and military applications, hit all-time highs, currently trading between $39,500-40,000 per metric ton in Rotterdam as of Dec. 31. Prices rose by around 250% in 2024.
There is no question at all that Trump and his advisers are very concerned about the stranglehold that China appears to have,” Klaus Dodds, professor of geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London, told CNN. Greenland offers a potentially rich source of these critical minerals, he added. “I think Greenland is really about keeping China out.”
