He is an excellent press dog. His thing is to hold on and not let go when something really interests him. And he is very interested. He already wanted to keep it in his first term (2017-2021) and now he is back to the fray. Despite the fact that his European and NATO allies throw their hands up, he insists: it is my treasure and I love it.
This morning, while traveling on Air Force One between Florida and Washington, he once again emphasized to the press that he wants to take over this autonomous island but sheltered under the administration of Denmark. And it is not, obviously, a particular interest (for natural resources or an ideal geostrategic position), but altruistic: it is for the security of the world. The seizure of Greenland is necessary, he emphasizes, for the US to prevent Russia or China from gaining control of the strategic Arctic territory.
“If we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will take Greenland, and I’m not going to let that happen… but one way or another, we’re going to have Greenland,” he said. Trump has launched one of his classic veiled threats: “Greenland should accept the agreement, because it doesn’t want to see Russia or China take control,” he advises.
The president has stressed that he is not interested in a temporary arrangement in the area, such as leasing territory, but rather in a permanent acquisition. “We are talking about acquiring, not about leasing, not about having it in the short term. We are talking about acquiring. If we don’t do it, Russia or China will do it, and that is not going to happen while I am president,” he added.
Noting the current presence of , he stressed that the US needs “more than that.” “You need ownership… You really need title,” he says. Therefore, he is not going to settle.
Internal opposition
This rhetoric is being criticized even by members of his own party. This week, Democratic opponents are expected to force a vote in the North American Senate to prevent the president from launching military attacks in Greenland and a group of Republicans are expected to join them, in an attempt to control the president’s assertiveness, in a move similar to the one voted last week on Venezuela, which must be ratified this week.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., says: “We will force a vote in the Senate on no US military action in Greenland or Denmark if we need to. We are going to get overwhelming bipartisan support that this president is ridiculous for even suggesting this.” In the program, the legislator, a member of the Foreign Relations and Armed Forces committees, has asked to take Trump’s statements “seriously” and literally, who on Friday announced that he has decided to “do something” with the Danish autonomous territory “whether by hook or by crook.”
“We are not going to do it the hard way, and we are not going to do it the easy way either. We are going to continue working with Denmark as a sovereign nation, with which we are allied, and we are not going to treat them as an adversary or an enemy,” he commented.
Kaine was one of the promoters, along with Republican Rand Paul, of the initiative that the Senate approved on Thursday that seeks to block new and hypothetical military incursions by the Trump Government in Venezuela, after the takeover of the president, which had the support of five Republicans.
Temper the spirits
The German Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, will meet this Monday with his US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in Washington, where he will discuss a common NATO security strategy in the Arctic in the face of Trump’s intentions to take control of Greenland.
Just yesterday, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that the growing dispute over the territory of Greenland could have direct repercussions on the security of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), stressing that any threat against this autonomous territory would undermine the Alliance’s collective security system.
The social democrat declared, during a debate held with national party leaders, that Greenland is going through a “decisive moment”, in a context marked by increased US pressure and Trump’s attempts to impose Washington’s control over the Arctic island. “There is an ongoing conflict over Greenland, and the issue goes deeper than meets the eye,” he stressed. Any threat against one of the NATO members would call into question the collective security system in force since the end of the war, he warns.
In messages published on the Facebook and Instagram platforms, the prime minister affirmed that Denmark is “a loyal and firm ally”, that it carries out an extensive rearmament process and is prepared to defend its values, “also in the Arctic”, reiterating her country’s commitment to international law, the right of peoples to self-determination and territorial integrity.
In addition, he announced that his Foreign Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, will meet this week with his American counterpart, , to hold talks on Greenland, following a joint request from Denmark and the territory’s Government to start a dialogue with Washington.
Why this frozen island matters
The island of Greenland, with more than two million square kilometers but with about 56,000 inhabitants at most, is in Trump’s target for justified reasons. Okay, it’s worth a lot, and it may be worth more in the years to come.
These are the reasons:
- A report published in mid-2023 by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland estimated that the 400,000 km2 of island territory currently not covered by ice have moderate or high deposits of 38 minerals on the essential materials list prepared by the European Commission (EC). It is also rich in oil, natural gas and hydroelectric energy.
- In addition to apparent high concentrations of copper, graphite, niobium, titanium and rhodiumthere would also be large deposits of the so-called rare earths, such as neodymium and praseodymiumwhose peculiar magnetic characteristics make them essential in the manufacture of electric vehicle motors and wind turbines. Greenland could contain up to 25% of all rare earth element resources in the worldwhich is said soon. This would be equivalent to around 1.5 million tonnes of materials.
- Currently, China dominates the rare earth mining and processing market. The Chinese They are responsible for around a third of the known reserves, 60% of the extraction and 85% of the processing of these materials. The US does not even want to think about deepening that power. Currently, the two mining companies prospecting for rare earths in Greenland are Australian, but one of them has Shenghe Resources, a Chinese state mining company, as an investor.
- Its situation on the globe is key to the security of the West. Its vakor has already been seen as a form of contain the global advance of the Nazis during World War II. Then, during the Cold War, control the sea routes between Europe and North America, and for its proximity to the Arctic. That’s why the U.S. military has operated Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base, for decades between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. The base is used as a ballistic missile observation post.
- The accelerated retreat of the Greenland ice cap opens perspectives that decades ago were unthinkable. Between 1979 and 2024, the extent of the summer sea ice has been reduced to approximately half of the values recorded in the 1980s, freeing up coastal areas and facilitating access to territories until now. inaccessible. This is valuable both for deposit exploration and for defensive and even commercial operations.
- Experts estimate that if all this ice were to melt, sea level would rise by at least seven metersso having the area under control is also essential from an environmental point of view and for the entire planet.
