Why Trump insists on getting Greenland

Sell Greenland or face crippling tariffs. This was US President Donald Trump’s threat to eight European nations last week. Although Trump has since back-pedaled on his threat, the aspiring American strongman has nonetheless vowed to subsume Greenland by whatever means it takes.

Greenland strategically straddles the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans. It is the world’s largest island with an area of 2,166 million square kilometers. Four-fifths of the land area is under ice. It has a population of only 56,000, 89 percent of whom are Inuits.

Greenland was colonized by Denmark and Norway in 1721. It has been part of Denmark since 1814. It achieved home rule in 1979 and self rule as an autonomous part of Denmark in 2009. Today, Greenland is a self-governing parliamentary democracy within the Kingdom of Denmark. While Denmark handles foreign affairs, defense and monetary policy, Greenland controls most domestic matters through its executive government called the Naalakkersuisut.

In January 2025, President Trump had a call with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to inform her of his intention to purchase Greenland. Frederiksen said the island is not for sale. Trump turned aggressive despite the PM’s offer to heighten cooperation on defense and mineral exploration. Later, Trump belligerently declared to the press that “we are going to have it.”

This is not the first time the US tried to purchase Greenland. It attempted in 1867, after purchasing Alaska. It tried again in 1946, after World War 2. Fun fact, America offered the Philippines and the West Indies to Denmark in exchange for Greenland. In 2019, Trump made overtures to purchase the arctic island anew.

This begs the question – why is the US keenly interested to own Greenland?

The first reason relates to national security and arctic geopolitics involving Russia and China.

See, climate change has caused the ice cap in the arctic to recede. This has opened a new trade route that connects Europe and Asia in a faster, more cost efficient way. It’s called the Trans Polar Route.

Since 2015, Russia has been clearing the way for the route using nuclear ice breakers. In 2018, China declared itself a “near arctic state” and began talking about a “polar silk road.” The Chinese too have started ice breaking operations. Russia and China are now cooperating on arctic issues and carrying out joint military exercises.

Washington cannot afford to have the communist nations to politically and militarily control the arctic, the shipping route and the rich minerals that lie beneath it. Purchasing Greenland is the obvious way to secure American interest.

The second reason is the Greenland-Iceland-UK (GIUK) Gap. Here’s why…

The GIUK Gap is the primary route used by Russian naval forces to access the Atlantic Ocean from the Arctic and Barents Seas. Russian submarines, including those carrying nuclear weapons, must pass through the GIUK Gap to get to the US East Coast. In war, US reinforcements traveling to Europe must cross the Atlantic. If Russia disrupts this route, it could block US military operations.

Although the US already has Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, controlling the entire territory will strengthen its control over the GUIK Gap. It will allow it to restrict the movement of Russian submarines and prevent them from threatening North America and Western Europe.

The third reason is Greenland’s mineral deposits.

A 2019 Financial Times report estimated Greenland’s mineral and energy resources to be worth between $1.1 trillion to $1.7 trillion. The island is rich in oil, gas, iron ore, copper, diamonds, gold, graphite, nickel, tungsten, zinc and more.

More significantly, it is said to possess 200,000 metric tones of uranium, an element needed to manufacture nuclear weapons and reactors (although Greenland has banned uranium mining). More enticingly, Greenland is estimated to have 38.5 million metric tons of rare earth oxides which can reduce US dependence on China.

The fourth and final reason is Canada.

Trump has been vocal about his desire to make Canada the US’s 51st state. Annexing Greenland will put pressure on Canada since it will be surrounded. It will have Greenland to its east, Alaska to its west and the US mainland to its south.

In Trump’s mind, incorporating Greenland and Canada into the union will ensure America’s status as the predominant superpower and cement his legacy as among the greatest American presidents.

The fifth reason relates to space, missile defense and early warning.

This is arguably the most important reason since Greenland is central to missile early-warning systems against Russia.

Hypersonic missiles fly at extreme speeds and travel at low altitudes, thereby evading radar detection. Warning times are reduced to just a few minutes. Because the shortest and fastest attack route from Russia to North America passes over the Arctic, control over Greenland is essential to detect and respond to a missile attack before it’s too late.

The sixth has to do with Trump’s beliefs.

Trump’s worldview assumes that alliances are transactional, governments change and treaties erode. Thus, owning territory is more reliable than mere agreements.

What will happen if the US takes Greenland by force?

It would trigger an unprecedented crisis within NATO. Greenland is part of Denmark, a fellow NATO member, and this will make the US an aggressor against its own alliance. NATO’s core principle – collective defense under Article 5 – would be paralyzed, since it was never designed for conflict between members. It will effectively render the alliance politically dysfunctional.

The Europeans will likely suspend cooperation with the US and accelerate efforts toward strategic autonomy. Such an attack would severely weaken NATO’s credibility, embolden Russia and China and mark the effective end of NATO as a unified security bloc.

Trump says it is only a matter of time before he takes Greenland. It’s up to the Europeans to resist.

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aj_masigan