Why is Donald Trump talking about annexing Greenland?
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US president elect has refused to rule out military force to take control of Greenland, but why is it so important? And what do Greenlanders think about it?. 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 United States, and threatened to impose “very high” tariffs on Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous territory, if it gets in his way.
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 the purchase 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.
