President Donald Trump and the quest for Greenland

By Professor Klaus Dodds

Here, Professor Dodds provides greater depth into recent Greenland Geopolitics. See the Greenland Connection “Scramble for the Arctic” StoryMap for more information.

Trump’s interest in Greenland

The last 18 months have been punctuated by news stories about President Donald Trump’s quest to acquire the world’s largest island – Greenland. Revisiting a proposal first made in 2019, that at the time was rebuffed by the Governments of both Denmark and Greenland, Trump returned to the subject in December 2024. Assuming presidential office again in January 2025, Trump’s interest in acquisition is grounded in three main arguments, which have been expressed through executive orders, presidential speeches and social media postings.

National security

The first argument in favour of American acquisition was grounded in national security. Taking direct control of Greenland would, it was argued, better secure homeland security and continental defence. In this framing, Denmark including the Government of Greenland is considered incapable of defending the island adequately and national defence spending deemed as chronically inadequate – notwithstanding substantial investment in defence in recent years by Copenhagen.

Under US control, Trump argued that Washington would be better able to deter Russia and China who were believed to be more active in the Arctic region, and specifically in waters around Greenland. Even as President elect, Trump spoke about Greenland being close to Arctic shipping routes that might become more important as sea ice melts. While Trump is not an advocate for climate change, he and his team have nonetheless acknowledged that shipping routes and chokepoints such as the Panama Canal are critical to global supply chain security. Moreover, as Cold War security planners recognised, early warning and ballistic missile defence would be facilitated if the US could create additional facilities in Greenland as part of a “Golden Dome” defence facility.

Rare Earth Minerals

The second argument revolves around the mineral potential of Greenland, especially rare earths. These minerals are integral to defence technologies and civilian infrastructure such as batteries, EVs and renewable energy. Eager to challenge the current dominance of China’s sourcing and processing of rare earths, Greenland was positioned as a long-term bet against Chinese mineral dominance. China dominates the supply chain, with anywhere up to 70% of global rare earth ore extraction and 90% of rare earth ore processing.

And despite some optimistic commentary at the time, the reality is that exploiting the mineral potential of Greenland has proven very testing in practice. Greenland only has two operational mines. Companies have invested in other mines, and progress has been modest thus far, including earlier ventures in rare earth element mine. As these minerals are often intermingled with uranium, community opposition to the environmental consequences of that has highlighted that mining in Greenland is a divisive issue. But it was an argument made by Trump and his supporters for why the US should acquire Greenland.

Make America Greater

The final area to note is arguably more rooted in Trump’s personal desire to make the United States greater again. Trump considers Greenland to be integral to the U.S. sphere of influence, and the president is someone who reportedly likes maps and charts. The Mercator projection makes Greenland look even bigger than it is. Nonetheless, it is three times the size of Texas. Trump wants to be immortalized in U.S. history as the president who made America bigger and told newspapers that he thought acquiring Greenland would give the United States a “psychological edge”.

More quixotically, Trump has complained that as he did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize, he felt motivated to act on other issues that would help strengthen and embolden the country. Other members of his family including Donald Trump Junior made their own visit to Nuuk, the main settlement of Greenland, and spoke enthusiastically about the potential for US investment if there was an act of incorporation.

Greenland in the Mercator Projection, from Britannica.com

Denmark and Greenland’s response

Thus far, the Governments of both Denmark and Greenland have rebuffed all offers to purchase/annexe Greenland in favour of the United States. For the Danish Prime-Minister, Mette Frederiksen, this has been an uncomfortable experience as a NATO ally continues to make threatening advances towards the Kingdom of Denmark.

What has struck many European observers as odd about these “offers” is that the US can achieve its security goals via the 1951 Defence Agreement signed with Denmark and extend its current facility Pituffik Space Base, previously called Thule Air Base. The Agreement, signed in the early part of the Cold War, provides plenty of latitude to the United States and that exists based on Washington DC recognising the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark. In the intervening period, moreover, Greenland has been transformed from a remote colony (in the 1950s) to an island with an indigenous government that has acquired substantial autonomy in areas such as resource rights. While there has been some reticence about further “militarisation” of Greenland, there is scope nonetheless to do so via that 1951 Agreement.

China and Russia

Most egregiously, the claim that China and Russia are menacing Greenland is patently false. What is true is that China and Russia are working more closely with one another and have carried out joint aerial and naval patrols in and around Bering Sea and Alaska. Chinese and Russian warships and aircraft are neither flying over nor sailing past Greenland. In July 2026, President Trump used the NATO summit at Ankara to berate NATO partners for resisting his acquisition plan for Greenland. Denmark was described as “a big problem for us” and clearly the president was irritated by earlier displays of solidarity by European NATO partners for Denmark.

New defence agreements

Since January 2026, there have been secret trilateral talks over Greenland with discussions about what a new defence agreement might contain. It is thought that Trump wants to secure a permanent clause on military deployments and Washington acquiring veto power over any new investments made by Russia and China. Whether a new agreement will be signed is a moot point because hitherto President Trump has shown no sign of relinquishing his desire to acquire Greenland. For Trump, making America greater means making this country even larger. And if ever enacted it would represent a spectacular reversal for an island that only 50 years ago was a remote colony of Denmark.

About the Author

Klaus Dodds is Faculty Dean and Professor of Geopolitics at Middlesex University London. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and in 2026 appointed Royal Navy Visiting Fellow. His research interests focus on geopolitics and the governance of the Polar Regions. He is the author of many books including the co-written Unfrozen: The Fight for the Future of the Arctic (Yale University Press 2025 with Mia Bennett). He has written for multiple audiences including The Spectator, The Conversation and other magazines and newspapers.