Why Greenland? Trump eyes control of world's biggest island

With its spectacular icescapes, high mountains, tundra and unique wildlife, Greenland offers countless settings for impressive photos and videos.

That, at least, is the reason Donald Trump Jr. gave for his trip to Greenland on Tuesday. He said he was visiting to gather material for a podcast.

"As someone who has traveled to some fascinating places across the globe as an outdoorsman, I'm excited to stop into Greenland for a little bit of fun this week," Trump Jr. told the US broadcaster Fox News before his visit.

Yet, the Instagram profile of the self-proclaimed nature lover contains many political posts supporting his father, and the apparent vacation has been overshadowed by the US president-elect's claims that Greenland should become part of the United States.

What's behind Trump's renewed interest in Greenland?

Since winning the US presidential election in November, the elder Donald Trump has called for US control of several places outside the country.

He would like to see the Panama Canal back under US sovereignty, and, after threatening northern neighbor Canada with punitive tariffs, Trump even brought up a merger of the two North American giants as an alternative. Canadian officials have strenuously rejected the offer.

Asked Tuesday whether he could promise not to use military or economic coercion to gain control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, Trump said: "No, I can't assure you on either of those two. But I can say this, we need them for economic security."

On Wednesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said EU leaders were taken aback by Trump's failure to reject military action against Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.

"In my discussions with our European partners, there has been a notable incomprehension when it comes to current statements from the US regarding the principle of the inviolability of borders," Scholz said, without referring to Trump by name.

The European Union has aimed to avoid confrontation on the issue, with a spokesperson for the European Commission saying it was "looking forward" to working with the incoming US administration.

"We are talking about fairly wild hypothetical stuff about an administration that hasn't come in yet," the spokesperson said of Trump's remarks. 

Not the first time Trump has eyed Greenland

Trump's claims to Greenland have been among his most repeated. In 2019, during his first term of office, the former real estate entrepreneur and reality TV star expressed an interest in buying the Danish territory.

When rebuffed by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Trump canceled a state visit to Denmark.

Just before his son's departure this week, Trump posted a video on his social media platform Truth Social, showing a man in a MAGA cap calling on Trump to buy Greenland and free it from Danish "colonial rule."

The US president-elect has not yet stated any specific reasons for his wish beyond vague references to national and economic security.

On Wednesday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Greenland could become independent but that it would not become a US state. 

"We fully recognize that Greenland has its own ambitions. If they materialize, Greenland will become independent, though hardly with an ambition to become a federal state in the United States," he said.

So what's the fuss about Greenland?

In economic and geopolitical terms, control over Greenland would increase US influence in the resource-rich Arctic region, where Russia and China are increasingly asserting their claims as ice caps melt.

The United States, with its northern state of Alaska, is an Arctic nation and has operated an air force base in northwest Greenland since 1951.

Greenland's capital, Nuuk, is closer to New York than Copenhagen, and the island boasts deposits of minerals, oil and natural gas. A 2023 survey showed that 25 of 34 minerals the European Commission labeled "critical raw materials" could be found in Greenland. 

In an interview with the private German television broadcaster NTV, Thomas Jäger, a politics professor based in Cologne, identified another potential ulterior motive beyond natural resources.

"It's easy to imagine that Trump wants to follow in the tradition of presidents who greatly expanded their territory, like in the 19th century when the United States expanded westwards and then bought Alaska," he said. "This would be something that would define him as a truly great president."

Boost for Greenland's independence

"I don't want to be a pawn in Trump's wild dreams of expanding his empire and including our country in it," Aaja Chemnitz, a member of the Danish parliament from Greenland, wrote on Facebook.

Greenland's domestic politics are currently engaged in a debate about becoming independent from Denmark. Greenland's prime minister, Mute Egede, stated in his New Year's address that work has already begun on creating the framework for an independent state.

Inhabited by the Inuit, the island was colonized by Denmark and Norway in the 18th century and eventually fell under the administration of the Danish crown.

After World War II, Greenland was officially decolonized, but at the same time women were forced to use contraception and children were deported to the Danish mainland against their parents' will.

The atrocities are only slowly being dealt with and are strengthening the desire of many Greenlanders to finally break away from Denmark.

Denmark unlikely to give up Greenland

It's unclear, however, if an independent Greenland could survive economically.

Each year, Copenhagen transfers around €550 million ($565 million) to the island, roughly a third of the island's total budget. Furthermore, Denmark would hardly want to renounce Greenland, not least because of its mineral resources and geostrategic importance.

Shortly after Trump's offer, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen published an investment list for Greenland's military infrastructure. And the Danish royal family recently granted Greenland more space on its newly designed coat of arms, in what has been seen as a rebuke to Trump.

Instead of cramming the Greenlandic polar bear into a corner together with the ram, representing the Faroe Islands, another autonomous territory north of the UK, both heraldic animals now have their own field.

"Denmark, Greenland and other Commonwealth nations belong together," King Frederik X affirmed in his New Year's Day speech.

Whether the Greenlanders agree with his views is likely to remain an issue in the upcoming election campaign. In April, when a new parliament is elected in the autonomous region, the proponents of independence are hoping for a boost. 

However, as of now, one thing is safe to say: Whether independence, US annexation or remaining part of Denmark, potentially with higher subsidies, the geopolitical revaluation of the melting Arctic is playing into Greenland's hands.

This article was originally written in German.