President Donald Trump’s interest in bringing Greenland under U.S. control is hardly a secret. The semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark has long been on his radar. Perched above the Arctic Circle, the world’s largest island occupies a strategically vital position, putting it squarely at the crossroads of global security, trade, and natural resources. And rising geopolitical tensions, climate change, and shifts in the global economy have only increased Greenland’s importance.
The island is rich in minerals and sits in a strategically important position along the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America. For the U.S., that combination makes Greenland much more than a remote Arctic territory. It is an increasingly essential piece of the broader security and resource picture. That spotlight intensified this week after Trump announced a new deal with Denmark covering security arrangements in Greenland.
