Trump has mulled territorial expansion via Greenland, Canada and Venezuela during his second term. But of the three, he comes back to Greenland most often, arguing that it is necessary for US security to be in control of the Arctic island.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreenland is very important to the United States, but it\u2019s not important to Denmark,\u201d Trump said Wednesday during a NATO summit. \u201cWe need it for the protection of the world, not just the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier in his term, he would not rule out taking the island by military force to secure its \u201cright, title and ownership,\u201d though the president has since said he\u2019s taken military options off the table.<\/p>\n
Trump says the US needs Greenland to deter threats from Russia and China and has repeatedly made false claims of Chinese and Russian military forces lurking off the island\u2019s coastline.<\/p>\n
Greenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with more than two-thirds of its territory lying within the Arctic Circle. That has made it crucial to the defence of North America since World War II, when the US occupied Greenland to ensure it didn\u2019t fall into the hands of Nazi Germany and to protect crucial North Atlantic shipping lanes.<\/p>\n
Following the Cold War, the Arctic was largely an area of international cooperation. But climate change is thinning the Arctic ice, promising to create a northwest passage for international trade and reigniting competition with Russia, China and other countries over access to the region\u2019s mineral resources.<\/p>\n
In 2018, China declared itself a \u201cnear-Arctic state,\u201d planning a \u201cPolar Silk Road\u201d under its global Belt and Road Initiative. Washington rejected the move, warning against transforming the Arctic Ocean into a militarised zone fraught with competing territorial claims. Meanwhile, Russia has aggressively asserted its influence, boosting its military presence, restoring Soviet-era infrastructure, and opening several polar bases since 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow will counter expanding NATO activities in the region.<\/p>\n
The US military already maintains a significant foothold on the island. The Department of Defence operates Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, established under a 1951 defence treaty with Denmark. The base supports missile warning, missile defence, and space surveillance for the US and NATO. Greenland also guards the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) Gap, a critical maritime choke point where NATO monitors Russian naval movements.<\/p>\n
However, military experts question whether an outright American takeover would improve Washington\u2019s strategic position. Thomas Crosbie, an associate professor at the Royal Danish Defence College, noted that the US already enjoys all the strategic access it needs as a trusted ally. \u201cThe United States will gain no advantage if its flag is flying in Nuuk versus the Greenlandic flag,\u201d Crosbie said.<\/p>\n
While Denmark\u2019s parliament recently expanded military agreements to allow US troops broader access to Danish air bases, diplomatic red lines remain. Danish Foreign Minister Lars L\u00f8kke Rasmussen clarified that Denmark maintains the right to terminate these defence agreements if the U.S. attempts to annex any part of Greenland.<\/p>\n
Beyond security, Greenland holds massive deposits of rare earth minerals essential for cellphones, computers, and green energy batteries. Western powers are eager to develop these resources to counter China\u2019s current dominance in the critical minerals market. However, tapping into this wealth remains a logistical challenge due to Greenland\u2019s harsh climate and strict environmental controls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trump has mulled territorial expansion via Greenland, Canada and Venezuela during his second term. But of the three,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[649,39259,57,1603],"class_list":["post-126852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-greenland","tag-arctic","tag-atlantic","tag-greenland","tag-north-america"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116894973818172985","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}