Last week, President Trump announced that the United States will acquire Greenland one way or the other.
Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark; it is the world’s largest island, with a small population of less than 100,000 inhabitants, mostly composed of indigenous people called Inuits.
Because Greenland sits at the intersection of three continents (Asia, Europe, and North America) and is rich in strategic resources, it has immense geopolitical importance.
The island is home to one of Earth’s largest uranium deposits. Uranium is essential for nuclear energy production, and it plays a crucial role in supporting nuclear power generation in the United States. Environmental groups oppose its extraction because they claim it may pollute the island’s environment, so Greenland imposed a ban on uranium mining in 2021.
In the same place where uranium is found on the island — the Kvanefjeld Mining Project on the southern side of the island — there are also vast deposits of rare earth minerals. These minerals form critical components for technologically advanced defense equipment, electric cars, and wind turbines. A sustainable supply of these minerals is vital to the U.S. defense industry.
On the island’s east coast, Greenland has large oil and gas reserves, which are still unexploited. So far, Denmark has not extracted any of these resources, while the United States would be able to make full use of them.
U.S. military presence in Greenland is of great geostrategic importance due to its proximity to Russia, providing early warning of missile launches from America’s principal adversary in the Arctic. Military installations on the island are the cornerstone of the development of the next-generation missile defense shield, called the Golden Dome. In fact, positioning missile interceptors on the island is a critical asset to counter Russia’s most advanced weapons. The island also plays an essential role in monitoring naval and submarine movements in the Arctic Ocean.
After the Trump administration expressed interest in acquiring the island, Denmark vehemently opposed U.S. plans, and Danes launched a grassroots boycott of American brands, targeting iconic companies such as Coca-Cola and Netflix.
This month, Denmark launched Operation Arctic Endurance, a military drill in Greenland involving several other European countries, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The objective of the exercise is to demonstrate readiness to defend the island. In response, the Trump administration imposed a 10 percent tariff on several countries participating in this operation. The tariffs take effect on Feb. 1 and last until an agreement for the purchase of Greenland is reached.
The European military exercise was unnecessary since the United States already holds a military base on the island. In 1951, the U.S. started the construction of the Thule Air Base in Greenland, which became America’s northernmost operational base. During the Cold War, the base was a key point in American aerospace defense.
In 2020, the United States changed the installation’s name to Pituffik Space Base, reflecting the native designation for the region. The base’s radar can detect and track ballistic threats, making it a sort of sentinel of the North. Its integration into the Golden Dome would give it the unique ability to detect, track, and intercept Russian missile threats faster than other radars, due to its central location in the Arctic region.
During his first administration, President Trump demanded that all NATO countries increase their defense spending to at least 2 percent of their annual gross domestic product. Because of Trump’s pressure, last year NATO members agreed to boost their defense spending to 5 percent of their GDP by 2035.
Until 2022, Denmark’s defense spending was just 1.36 percent of its GDP or lower going back to 2014, while U.S. defense spending has consistently exceeded 3 percent. Although Danish defense spending increased in the past three years, the U.S. remains the NATO country with the strongest military force, and U.S. ability to defend Greenland far exceeds Denmark’s.
One of Denmark’s arguments against U.S. control of Greenland is that the island is already part of NATO, so there is no need for it to be directly controlled by the United States. In fact, Denmark has been a member of NATO since 1949, and its territories, including Greenland, are also part of the alliance.
However, the island’s geopolitical relevance is disproportionate with respect to the global role of Denmark, a country of just 6 million inhabitants. During World War II, Nazi Germany invaded Denmark, forcing the United States to occupy Greenland to prevent it from falling under Hitler’s control. The United States should have kept the island; instead, it made a major mistake, returning it to Denmark after the end of the war.
There is no reason for Denmark to retain control of Greenland since it has failed to exploit its strategic mineral resources and was unable to protect it from Germany in WWII.
On the contrary, the United States has a vested interest in controlling an island that is an essential component of a multibillion-dollar defense system, which will give North America, and Greenland itself, enhanced security from the threats of other great powers.
For these reasons, U.S. control of Greenland is paramount to maintain American geopolitical leadership.
