Why Donald Trump wants to buy Greenland

We are less than two weeks away from Donald Trump’s inauguration, but his provocative foreign policy is already here. Case in point: The US president-elect reiterated his desire to acquire Greenland, calling it critical to American national security.

On Tuesday (January 7), speaking to reporters at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago,
Trump refused to rule out using American military force to seize Greenland. “I can’t assure you on either of those two,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question on Greenland and the Panama Canal. “But I can say this, we need them for economic security.”

Interestingly, Trump’s remarks on Greenland came as his son, Donald Trump Jr, reached Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, where he reportedly distributed “Make Greenland Great Again” hats despite claiming to be visiting purely as a tourist.

Trump’s interest in Greenland

On Tuesday, Donald Trump ramped up his desire to buy Greenland, saying he wouldn’t rule out using military or economic coercion to acquire Greenland. But this isn’t the first time that he has spoken of the world’s largest island and his desire to acquire it.

He wrote earlier on social media, “Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”

On Christmas (25 December 2024), the US president-elect took aim at Greenland in social media posts, writing on his Truth Social platform, “the people of Greenland, which is needed by the United States for National Security purposes and, who want the US to be there, and we will!”

Before that, he spoke of buying Greenland when he was on the campaign trail.

However, the idea of buying Greenland first came to Trump in August 2019 while he served as the president of the United States. At the time, he had said, “Denmark essentially owns it. We’re very good allies with Denmark, we protect Denmark like we protect large portions of the world. So the concept came up and I said, ‘Certainly I’d be.’ Strategically it’s interesting and we’d be interested but we’ll talk to them a little bit. It’s not No. 1 on the burner, I can tell you that.”

In th_e book The Divider,_ it is suggested that Trump got the idea of purchasing Greenland from Ronald Lauder, a billionaire heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics fortune. In fact, he had even offered to play the role of back-channel negotiator with the Danish government for Trump.

US’ age-old interest in Greenland

But Trump isn’t alone in his yearning to buy Greenland. The idea that the US should annex or purchase the island dates back to 1946. Then, Washington offered Denmark, which previously had formal sovereignty over Greenland, $100 million worth of gold for the territory.

“That 1946 offer was supposed to be secret. (This became public only in 1991 when Danish newspapers discovered declassified documents),” the magazine TIME wrote.

Before that, President Andrew Johnson wanted to buy the Arctic island in 1867. As per the Journal of American History, Johnson’s administration thought of the purchase of Greenland and Iceland for $5.5 million in gold after the US had bought
Alaska from the Russian Empire.

Reasons why Trump wants Greenland

To understand Trump’s desire to purchase Greenland, let’s understand more about this island. The world’s largest island — it is said to be three times the size of Texas — houses over 60,000 residents, most of whom are Indigenous Inuit people. Historically, Greenland was a Danish colony until it became self-ruled in 1979. It still remains a territory of Denmark. However, Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Egede has called for independence from Denmark.

But what makes Greenland so coveted is its location and the fact that it is mineral-rich. Greenland straddles the Arctic Circle between the US, Russia and Europe, making it geopolitically strategic. It’s even more valuable as the Arctic opens up more to shipping and trade.

Moreover, Greenland is key for US security; the island is already home to a large US military base. Experts believe that Greenland is critical for the US to repel a potential attack from Russia. As Ulrik Pram Gad, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told CNN, “The US is keen to ensure no hostile great powers control Greenland because it can be a foothold for attacking the US.”

Amanda Lynch, professor of earth sciences at Brown University, also shared similar sentiments. In an NPR report, she said, “From the perspective of the Arctic, Greenland is our eyes on everything that’s going on, including on the Northern Sea Route, which is controlled by Russia.”

Trump’s ambition to purchase Greenland is also to keep China at bay. In 2019, Republican lawmakers warned China was trying to build airports on Greenland and even buy an old American naval base there.

China has also shown significant interest in a new route through the Arctic, and last November, China and Russia agreed to work together to develop Arctic shipping routes. Some believe that Trump buying Greenland would be a show of strength for Washington when its rivals are increasingly encroaching into the region.

In addition to this, Greenland is a rich source of vital minerals that could aid a country in the long term. It is rich in coal, zinc, copper, iron ore, diamonds and oil, and even enormous quantities of cold-water fish that can now be harvested year-round.

These minerals are important for high-end military, green energy and industrial technologies and would give the US an edge over China. “There is no question at all that Trump and his advisers are very concerned about the stranglehold that China appears to have,” Klaus Dodds, professor of geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London, told CNN, adding, “Greenland offers a potentially rich source of these critical minerals. I think Greenland is really about keeping China out.”

Greenland and Denmark speak

When Trump had initially floated the idea of Washington buying Greenland back in 2019, Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen shot down the proposal, saying that “Greenland is not for sale”.

Just a few days ago, Denmark’s King Frederik X changed his country’s
coat of arms to feature the symbol of Greenland more prominently.

In announcing the new design — the first since 1972 — the Danish Royal House said the king wanted to create a “contemporary royal coat of arms that both reflects the Realm and takes into account history as well as the heraldic tradition.”

The new coat of arms, unveiled on January 1, gives Greenland, represented by a polar bear, and the Faroe Islands, represented by a ram, their own sections, which “strengthens the Realm’s prominence in the royal coat of arms.” Previously, the symbols of the Faroe Islands and Greenland, along with three crowns, were all contained in a single section.

On Tuesday (January 7), Greenland’s PM Múte Bourup Egede said on Facebook, “Let me repeat – Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland. Our future and fight for independence is our business.

“While others, including Danes and Americans, are entitled to their opinions, but we should not be caught up in the hysteria and external pressures.

“The future is ours and ours to shape,” adding, “Every day is spent on working to become independent.”

With inputs from agencies