Why does Donald Trump want Greenland as he says US ‘has to have it?’
US President Donald Trump has appointed a special envoy to Greenland in his latest attempt to try to annex the country for himself.
Jeff Landry, the Republican governor for Louisiana, is ‘leading the charge’ as part of the special envoy appointed to the vast Arctic island which is a semi-autonomous part of Denmark.
Trump said the US needs Greenland for ‘national protection’, adding: ‘We have to have it.’
This has unsurprisingly angered leaders of the country, with Copenhagen set to call their US ambassador for ‘an explanation’.
It is no secret Trump has been looking to take over the mineral-rich land due to its strategic location.
He has even refused to rule out using force to secure the country which shocked Denmark, as it was once considered one of the US’s closest Nato allies.
How has Greenland reacted?
Prime ministers Mette Frederiksen of Denmark and Jens-Frederik Nielsen have since demanded respect for thier borders.
They said in a joint statement: ‘We have said it very clearly before. Now we say it again. National borders and the sovereignty of states are rooted in international law … You cannot annex other countries.
‘Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders, and the US should not take over Greenland.
‘We expect respect for our common territorial integrity.’
Why does Donald Trump want Greenland?
Although the world’s largest island is home to just 57,000 – mostly indigenous Inuit – people, its natural resources and geographic position make it increasingly alluring for global powers.
‘I think Greenland is going to be something that maybe is in our future’, Trump recently said. He has refused to rule out using military force.
Trump has been eyeing up the island since 2019, but he’s not the first US President to want it.
The United States tried buying it in 1846, and again for the modern equivalent of £970million in 1946 when the Cold War was gathering pace.
Both times they were knocked back, but Greenland was seen has having such strategic importance in countering the Soviet Union, the US maintained a military presence there anyway.
With Denmark’s agreement, the US operate Thule Air Base, capable of sending American bombers across the Artic to strike the Soviet Union, and to detect missiles coming the other way.
There was also another base, a secret one, buried in a glacier 150 miles away.
Supposedly a research facility, Camp Century was actually supposed to house nuclear weapons able to launch through the ice sheet.
They were never put there in the end, and this outpost has since been abandoned.
While Thule still exists – albeit now called Pituffik Space Base – the fact Camp Century was lost 100 feet below the surface, until a team of Nasa scientists found it again last year, says something about changing international relations.
Even as the Cold War ebbed and flowed, maintaining nuclear weapons this far north wasn’t seen as vital.
But now the ice sheets are melting, making the surrounding waterways more navigable, and easing access to resources – uranium, iron, fossil fuels – hidden beneath.
Meanwhile tensions with Russia are higher than any time since the Cold War, and China – the USA’s new main rival – is seeking to invest in Greenland.
That might explain why Vance, ahead of his visit, said: ‘A lot of other countries have threatened Greenland, have threatened to use its territories and waterways to threaten the United States, to threaten Canada and of course to threaten the people of Greenland, so we’re going to check out how things are going there.
‘And I say that, speaking for President Trump, we want to reinvigorate the security of the people of Greenland because we think it’s important to protecting the security of the entire world.
‘Unfortunately, leaders in both American and in Denmark I think ignored Greenland for far too long.
‘That’s been bad for Greenland, it’s also been bad for the security of the entire world. We think we can take things in a different direction, so I’m going to go check it out.’
Who owns Greenland?
Trump might be insistent about buying Greenland for ‘national security’, but the people of Greenland aren’t so keen. Roughly 85% oppose joining the USA, with nearly half seeing Trump’s interest as a threat.
‘What is the national security adviser doing in Greenland’, Prime Minister Múte Egede said in relation to US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz joining the Vance visit this week.
‘The only purpose is to demonstrate power over us. His mere presence in Greenland will no doubt fuel American belief in Trump’s mission – and the pressure will increase’
His party may have lost this month’s election, but his likely successor Jens-Frederik Nielsen agrees.
Nielsen said: ‘The fact that the Americans know very well that we are still in a negotiating situation and that the municipal elections have not yet concluded, they still capitalize on the moment to come to Greenland, once again, which shows a lack of respect for the Greenlandic population.’
Although Greenlanders are largely united in their opposition to US interference, they aren’t the only ones with a say.
Greenland has been ruled by Denmark – nearly 3,000km away – since several waves of colonisation in the 1700s.
Now a largely automous self-governing territory with representation in Denmark’s national parliament, Greenland has controlled its own internal affairs for decades.
But foreign relations are still overseen by Denmark, despite recent pushes for Greenlandic independence,
Denmark then, is likely to have some say in Greenland’s future. According to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, that future appears not to be with the US.
‘Greenland is not for sale’, she said in a TV interview. ‘I want to make it very clear, that seen with the eyes of the Danish government, Greenland is for the Greenlandic people.
‘It is a very proud people, a language and culture, it is a people that is their own.’
Is Greenland part of Nato?
Yes. Greenland is a part of NATO, because it is a part of Denmark – which is a NATO member.
This means if Trump were to ‘not rule out military action’, as he’s previously said, and take Greenland by force, it could spark a war.
Article Five of the NATO treaty says if a member state is attacked, it’s considered an attack on all members – who will then assist the attacked member in the fight.
Is there a US base in Greenland?
Yes. Previously known as Thule Air Base, the US-operated Pituffik Space Base is one of the most remote US military bases and the only one in Greenland.
With 150 Air Force and Space Force personnel permanently stationed here, it has radar capable of detecting ballistic missiles almost as soon as they have taken off.
Sat on the northwest of Greenland, where temperatures drop below -34°C in winter, the closest settlement is 70 miles away in Qaanaaq, home to no more than 650 people.
What is ‘Red White and Blueland’?
A Republican Congressman introduced legislation that would authorize Trump to enter into negotiations to acquire the autonomous territory of Denmark and rename it based on the US flag.
‘America is back and will soon be bigger than ever with the addition of Red, White, and Blueland,’ stated Rep Buddy Carter, 67, of Georgia.
‘President Trump has correctly identified the purchase of what is now Greenland as a national security priority, and we will proudly welcome its people to join the freest nation to ever exist when our Negotiator-in-Chief inks this monumental deal.’
The Red, White, and Blueland Act of 2025 directs the Secretary of the Interior to oversee that Greenland is renamed in federal documents and maps within 180 days.
‘Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to Greenland shall be deemed to be a reference to
13 ‘‘Red, White, and Blueland’’.
The bill must first be studied by a committee before it can go for a vote in the House. It would then go to the Senate.
It is being considered by lawmakers even as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has repeatedly said that the Arctic island is ‘not for sale’.
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