Hours after his son Donald Trump Jr touched down in the Greenlandic capital, Nuuk, on Tuesday in a Trump-branded plane, the US president-elect, Donald Trump, held a press conference in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, where he refused to rule out using military force to make Greenland part of the US, and threatened to impose “very high” tariffs on Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous territory, if it gets in his way.
Why is Donald Trump so fixated with Greenland?
Trump has said the US needs control of Greenland – and the Panama canal – for “economic security” and has described ownership and control of the territory as an “absolute necessity”. Greenland has long been on Trump’s radar as a target for purchase and in 2019 he confirmed reports that he had been urging aides to find out how the US could buy the vast Arctic island, describing a sale as “essentially a large real estate deal”.
As well as oil and gas, Greenland’s supply of multiple in-demand raw materials for green technology is attracting interest from around the world – including from China, which dominates global rare earth production and has threatened to restrict the export of critical minerals. By acquiring Greenland, the US could keep China out.
Strategically positioned between the US and Russia, Greenland is viewed as increasingly important for defence and is emerging as a geopolitical battleground as the climate crises worsens.
The rapid melting of the island’s huge ice sheets and glaciers could open up oil drilling (although Greenland in 2021 stopped granting exploration licences) and mining for essential minerals including copper, lithium, cobalt and nickel.
Melting Arctic ice is also opening up new shipping routes, providing alternatives to the Suez canal through the Arctic that shorten the journey from western Europe to east Asia by almost half. China and Russia agreed in November to collaborate on developing new Arctic shipping routes.
Greenland is already an important military base for the US and its ballistic missile early warning system. The US has had a military base at Pituffik (previously Thule) since the cold war.
What has Denmark got to do with it?
Inuit people are understood to have lived in Greenland since as early as 2,500BCE and it was reached by Norse seafarers in the first millennium CE, who establishment settlements lasting several centuries. Modern colonisation began after the arrival of Hans Egede in 1721, acting with the support of what was then Denmark-Norway. During the second world war, when Denmark was occupied by Germany, Greenland was occupied by the US and was returned to Denmark in 1945.
It became part of the kingdom of Denmark in 1953, and in 1979 home rule was introduced. But Denmark still controls Greenland’s foreign and security policy. It has its own parliament, Inatsisartut, and two MPs in the Danish parliament, Folketing. But calls for independence have been growing.
Tensions have escalated significantly between Greenland and Denmark in recent months. There is intense anger in Greenland over investigations into the forced contraceptive scandal of the 1960s and 70s, prompting the Greenlandic prime minister to accuse Denmark of genocide. There are also continuing protests in Copenhagen and Nuuk over the separation of Greenlandic children from their parents.
Last week, Greenland’s prime minister, Múte Egede, accelerated his argument for independence from Denmark, saying in his new year speech that he wanted Greenland to break free from “the shackles of colonialism” to shape its own future. He did not, however, mention the US.
The visit by Trump Jr comes just months before Greenland’s next parliamentary election in April, after which Egede has said there must be “major steps” to “creating the framework for Greenland as an independent state”. According to a 2009 agreement with Denmark, Greenland must hold a successful referendum before declaring independence.
What do Greenland and Denmark make of Trump’s advances?
The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has said the autonomous territory is “not for sale”, telling TV2: “Seen through the eyes of the Danish government, Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.”
Egede has also said Greenland is not for sale. In response to Trump Jr’s visit, he said: “Let me repeat it – Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders. Our future and fight for independence is our business. Danes, Americans and everyone else can have opinions, but we should not be caught up in the hysteria and pointing fingers at others. Because our future is ours and must be shaped by us.” He described Trump’s refusal to rule out military or economic coercion as “serious statements,” adding: “But we’ll take it from there.”
His cancellation of a planned meeting with the Danish King Frederik on Wednesday (a meeting that was later rescheduled) was, however, seen by some as an embarrassing snub.
Meanwhile, King Frederik’s unveiling of a new Danish royal coat of arms that more prominently features the autonomous territories of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, was seen by some as a rebuke to Trump.
