With Donald Trump doubling down on threats of Arctic takeover, Greenland’s leader Mute Eggede has said he is willing to meet the US president-elect to negotiate the future of the autonomous Danish territory. However, he stressed that Greenland has no interest in becoming a US territory, but is willing to discuss what could happen if the island and the US were united.
“We are ready to talk. Cooperation is about dialogue. Cooperation means you will work toward a solution,” Egede said during a news conference in Denmark with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
“We have a desire for independence, a desire to own our own home… That’s something that everyone should respect. Greenland is for the Greenlandic people. We don’t want to be Danish, we don’t want to be American. We’re Greenlandic. Want to be,” he said.
What does Trump want?
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants Greenland to become part of the United States. During a press conference in Florida, after his election victory was certified, he went a step further, ruling out the possibility of economic or military force to take control of the country.
“Greenland is an incredible place and the people would benefit greatly if it became a part of our nation,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday.
Trump first signaled his intention to buy Greenland — an ice-covered island with a population of just 57,000 people — from Denmark in 2019 during his first term as president. However, he was rebuffed.
Since then, Danish and European officials have repeatedly stated that Greenland is not for sale and that its territorial integrity must be preserved.
Why does Trump want Greenland?
The island, whose capital Nuuk is closer to New York than the Danish capital Copenhagen, boasts mineral, oil and natural gas wealth, but development has been slow. A 2023 survey showed that 25 of the 34 minerals considered “critical raw materials” by the European Commission were found in Greenland. These also include materials used in batteries, such as graphite and lithium, and so-called rare earth elements used in electric vehicles and wind turbines. However, the Danish sector has banned the extraction of oil and natural gas for environmental reasons.
It is also part of NATO through Denmark’s membership and has strategic importance for the US military and its ballistic missile early-warning system as the shortest route from Europe to North America passes through the Arctic island. The US military maintains a permanent presence at Pitufik Air Base in the northwest of Greenland.
The United States has expressed interest in expanding its military presence, including placing radar there to monitor the waters between the islands, Iceland and Britain, which are gateways for Russian naval vessels and nuclear submarines.
Possible scenarios for Greenland’s future
With two NATO allies – the US and Denmark – at odds over the future of mineral-rich Greenland, we look at four possible scenarios to end the standoff.
Trump’s interest decreased: Some experts speculate that Trump’s threats are mere posturing, aimed at pressuring Denmark to increase security in Greenland amid threats by both Russia and China to exert influence in the region. Denmark announced a new $1.5 billion military package for the Arctic in December.
Speaking to the BBC, Elisabeth Sven, chief political correspondent for Politiken newspaper, said the important thing in what Trump said was that Denmark would have to meet its obligations in the Arctic or it would have to let the US do so.
However, Mark Jacobsen, associate professor at the Royal Danish Defense College, told the British broadcaster that Trump is using threats to “position himself before entering office”, while Greenland is using this opportunity to move towards independence. As an important step, is to gain more international authority. ,
Even though the incoming US president may now have less interest in Greenland, he has certainly drawn attention to the issue, the BBC reports.
Greenland wants independence from Denmark, closer ties with US: Greenland’s independence has been on the agenda for many years, with the consensus among the island’s residents that Denmark would accept it whenever they voted for it. However, it is an unlikely scenario that Greenland seeks a vote unless its people are guaranteed that they can retain the subsidies they receive from Denmark to pay for welfare schemes such as health care.
The BBC report quoted Ulrik Gad as saying, “Greenland’s PM can take up arms now, but if he actually calls a referendum, he will have to come up with a plan on how to save Greenland’s economy and welfare system.” “Kind of a solid story would be required.” As said by a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies.
In such a scenario, one possible step could be Guinean’s free association with the United States, as the United States is currently doing with the Pacific states – Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau.
Although Denmark has previously opposed this status for Greenland, current Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is reportedly not entirely against it.
With Denmark accepting colonial responsibility, “its understanding of Greenland’s historical experience is much better than it was 20 years ago,” Dr. Gad said, adding that recent discussions have led “(Frederiksen) to say “It’s better to keep Denmark in the Arctic.” , maintain some kind of connection with Greenland, even if it is a weak one.”
But even if Greenland were to gain independence from Denmark, it would not be rid of the Americans, who never really left the island after occupying it in World War II, and consider it vital to their security.
According to Dr. Gad, Greenlandic officials were in touch with the last two US administrations about Washington’s role because “now they know the US will never leave.”
Trump follows up with economic threats: There is also a scenario where Trump, with his economic rhetoric, drastically increases tariffs on Danish, or even EU, goods, this could force Denmark into some kind of concessions on Greenland.
But Professor Jacobsen said Denmark was preparing for such an outcome, and not just because of the Arctic region.
Amid Trump’s threat to impose a 10 percent universal tariff on all US imports, some Danish and other European companies are reportedly considering setting up manufacturing bases in the US.
One of the major Danish industries that could be most affected by the tariffs is pharmaceuticals. The US imports products such as hearing aids, insulin and the diabetes drug Ozempic from Denmark. Analysts believe that these measures will result in a massive increase in the prices of these commodities, which will not be supported by the American public.
Trump actually invaded Greenland: Although the US adopting the military route seems far-fetched, with Trump failing to rule it out as an option, the possibility of it happening cannot be ruled out. If the US decided to go this route, it would not be difficult for it to take control of Greenland, given that they already have a base and a large number of troops on the island.
However, any use of military force by Washington could create an international incident.
“If they invade Greenland, they invade NATO,” Sven said, “so it stops there. Article 5 has to be invoked. And if any NATO country invades NATO any NATO Not there.”
Dr. Gad said that with his threats, Trump makes it seem as if Chinese President Xi Jinping is talking about Taiwan or Russia’s Vladimir Putin is talking about Ukraine. “They are saying that it is legitimate for us to take this piece of land… If we really take them seriously, it is a bad omen for the entire Western alliance,” he said.
