Why Trump wants Greenland and what makes it so important for security
Sermitsiaq Mountain looms behind a row of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 4, 2025.
Strange Andersen | Afp | Getty Images
US President Donald Trump is determined to seize control of Greenland, a large, sparsely populated and mineral-rich island located between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean.
“This is very strategic,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. “Currently, every part of Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships. We need Greenland for national security.”
His comments, coming hot on the heels of a daring military operation in Venezuela, sparked alarm across Europe, with Denmark warning that an American takeover of Greenland would mark the end of the NATO military alliance.
But the US president is not hesitating yet. In fact, the White House further ratcheted up transatlantic tensions on Tuesday, saying Trump and his team were considering “a range of options,” including “using the U.S. Military,” to make the self-governing Danish territory part of the United States.
Located between the USA and Russia, Greenland has long been viewed As an area of high strategic importance, especially when it comes to Arctic security.
The region, where about 57,000 people live, is close to emerging Arctic shipping routes, and rapid melting of ice creates new opportunities. reduce significantly Asia-Europe travel time compared to the Suez Canal.
Greenland also lies over the GIUK gap, a maritime choke point between Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom, connecting the Arctic to the Atlantic Ocean.
In addition to its strategic geopolitical location, Greenland is known for its abundance of untapped raw materials, from oil and gas reserves to critical mineral deposits and a treasure trove of rare earth elements.
These critical minerals and rare earth elements are vital components of emerging technologies such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, energy storage technologies and national security applications. China last year sought to strengthen its near-monopoly on rare earths to put pressure on the United States.
“Trump is a real estate agent,” Clayton Allen, head of practice at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, told CNBC via video call.
“Greenland sits on some of the most valuable real estate for economic advantage and strategic defense for the next thirty to fifty years.”
shipping ways
Of course, the United States already has a presence in Greenland. Pituffik Cosmodrome, formerly Thule Air Force Base, is located in northwest Greenland, just across Baffin Bay from Nunavut, Canada.
like that estimated About 150 of the 6,000 or so US soldiers during the Cold War were stationed there permanently.
“For good reasons, the United States has an early warning air base in northwestern Greenland because the shortest path for a Russian ballistic missile to reach the continental United States is through Greenland and the Arctic,” said Otto Svendsen, an associate researcher at the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank.
Svendsen said the base, which also has an active airfield and is home to the world’s northernmost deep-water port, plays an important role in tracking Russian submarines that traditionally cross the GIUK gap.
“A newer and emerging threat or factor is that Greenland lies on the Northwest Passage and the Transpolar Sea Route, two potential shipping routes in the Arctic,” Svendsen told CNBC by phone. he said.
“As climate change continues to make these routes less livable, there are also commercial interests that contribute to the national security value of the island,” he added.
A fishing boat navigates around icebergs that broke off from the Jakobshavn Glacier and floated in Disko Bay in Ilulissat, Greenland, on March 10, 2025.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Previous opinion polls shown While Greenlanders overwhelmingly oppose US control, a strong majority supports independence from Denmark.
‘Golden Dome’
Analysts say Greenland could be useful to the United States as a staging area for a larger defense presence and as a location for U.S. missile interceptors, especially in the context of one of the Trump administration’s key policies: ““Golden Dome” missile defense system.
The multibillion-dollar initiative, launched in May last year and often compared to Israel’s “Iron Dome” system, is a visionary plan designed to protect the United States from all missile attacks.
“The United States needs access to the Arctic, and it doesn’t have that direct access today. Greenland has a tremendous amount of access. The United States needs air defenses deployed closer and closer to Russia to combat next-generation weapons that cannot be defended with what we have now. Greenland provides that,” said Eurasia Group’s Allen.
“Trump wants to build a ‘Golden Dome’ over the United States,” he continued. “Some of this will depend on Greenland.”
National security or economic security?
For some, Trump’s claim that annexing Greenland is a fundamental part of US national security raised eyebrows. The declaration marks a notable change in tone from almost a year ago, when the then-president was elected. cited “Economic security” as the primary factor in annexing the island.
Marion Messmer, director of the International Security Program at the Chatham House think tank in London, acknowledged that it was fair to say that both Russia and China have increased their military activities in the Arctic in recent years and would likely fly over Greenland if Moscow launched a missile at the United States.
“But it is not clear why Washington needs full control over Greenland to defend itself,” Messmer said. in question In a written analysis published Tuesday.
He noted that the United States already has a presence at the Pituffik Cosmodrome, as well as a decades-old defense agreement with Denmark that allows Washington to continue using it.
“During the Cold War, the United States deployed up to 6,000 troops in various camps on the island,” Messmer said. he said. “He could possibly increase his troop presence again if he felt he needed a larger presence in the region, without challenging Denmark’s sovereignty.”
