Why does Trump want Greenland to be part of the United States?

Why does the United States want to control Greenland? President Trump has made it clear that he thinks the United States should control the Arctic island to ensure the security of America and its NATO allies, a point on which those allies – and Greenland – vehemently disagree.

But there is much more at stake here, including a valuable shipping route and access to mineral resources.

Here’s what interests the United States about the semi-autonomous Danish territory:

“It’s so strategic right now.”

Greenland covers approximately 836,000 square miles, much of which is covered by the Greenland Ice Sheet. It is home to only about 60,000 people and is a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark with its own elected government.

Its location between the United States, Russia and Europe makes it strategic for both economic and defense purposes – especially as melting sea ice has opened new shipping routes across the Arctic. This is also where the northernmost American military base is located.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly asserted that the United States needs Greenland for national security purposes.

“It’s so strategic right now,” he told reporters on Sunday, January 4. “Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships everywhere…We need Greenland from a national security point of view, and Denmark will not be able to do that.”

“The Americans have a vested interest in supervising the activities of foreign countries in Greenland because it is a very important security asset for foreign states and, as such, any investment or activity, from the American perspective, can be considered a security threat,” Frank Sejersen, an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen, told CBS News earlier this year.

Controlling a valuable new route for shipping

Melting ice around Greenland has created more opportunities to use the North Sea route, allowing shippers to save millions of dollars in fuel by taking a shorter route between Europe and Asia that had long been passable only in the warmer months.

A Russian commercial ship, aided by an icebreaker, traveled the route for the first time during the winter of February 2021.

Greenland’s underground resources

Greenland has highly sought after reserves of oil, natural gas and mineral resources.

These mineral resources, which include rare earth elements, “have been minimally explored and exploited,” Jose W. Fernandez, U.S. undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, said at a news conference. Mineral Security Partnership event in Greenland in November 2024.

Greenland may have significant reserves of up to 31 different minerals, including lithium and graphite, according to a 2023 study. report assess the island’s resources. Both minerals are necessary for the production of batteries for electric vehicles and a wide range of other technologies.

Currently, lithium production is dominated by Australia, Chile and China, while China produces about 65% of the world’s graphite, the report notes.

Greenland also has the potential to supply a significant amount of rare earth minerals such as neodymium, which is used to make the magnets used in electric motors, the 2023 report says.

China produces approximately 70% of rare earth elements, and demand for rare earth minerals continues to grow with technological advancements and the rapid diffusion of consumer devices that require these resources.

There are, however, significant obstacles to mining in Greenland, including environmental and cost concerns.

Most Greenlanders don’t want to be Americans

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said Tuesday that his country wants good relations with the United States and does not think “there could be a takeover of the country overnight, and that is why we insist that we want good cooperation.”

A a survey conducted a year ago showed that 85% of Greenlanders did not want to be part of the United States.

“He can’t take it like that,” said Daniel Rosing, a trainee electrician who says he is proud to be Greenlandic. told CBS News before a visit last year to the island by Vice President JD Vance and his wife.

A Brief History of Greenland

The Kingdom of Denmark began colonizing Greenland in the early 18th century, hundreds of years after Vikings arrived from the same distant land to take up residence there.

It was not until after World War II that the United States established a presence on the island, when Denmark’s ambassador to the United States, Henrik Kauffmann, refused to surrender to the power of Denmark’s Nazi occupiers.

Denmark was liberated from Nazi occupation in 1945, and the European nation remained Greenland’s colonial rulers until 1953, when it fully defined its relationship with the island as a semi-autonomous territory.

The United States has never left the Pituffik space base, established during World War II.