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The Conversation
The Conversation
Steven Lamy, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Relations and Spatial Sciences, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Trump’s stated reasons for taking Greenland are wrong – but the tactics fit with the plan to limit China’s economic interests

People protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's policy toward Greenland in front of the U.S. consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, on Jan. 17, 2026. AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka

In 2019, during his first term, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed a desire to buy Greenland, which has been a part of Denmark for some 300 years. Danes and Greenlanders quickly rebuffed the offer at the time.

During Trump’s second term, those offers have turned to threats.

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