US In Greenland

U.S. President Donald Trump Attempts To Acquire Greenland

Photo from BusinessWorld / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Throughout the past week, U.S. President Donald Trump has made numerous comments about acquiring Greenland. During his first term as president, Trump had made multiple statements about “purchasing” Greenland, but has only recently begun to take action on these ideas. Currently, Trump is devising a deal with Greenland leaders for access to mineral rights and collaboration on key projects like the Golden Dome. The Golden Dome is a missile defense system intended to detect and destroy any incoming ballistic missiles, the design of which was originally proposed by the U.S.

Outside of collaboration on the Golden Dome, Trump has taken great interest in another key part of Greenland: the mineral resources found throughout the country. Greenland is filled with riches the U.S. strives to gain, ranging from oil to rare earth minerals. These minerals are crucial to production of cars, wind turbines, and military equipment, making them all the more valuable to the U.S.

According to Trump, gaining these resources would help the U.S. become more independent from China.

In addition to the resources, Greenland is also a strategic point for trade. Due to climate change, many ice caps around Greenland have begun to melt, causing some northern trade routes that are extremely efficient to open up. These trade routes would have implications on both trade and global security, and the current deal proposed by Trump would allow the U.S. full control over these routes.

The deal proposed by Trump is meant to be permanent, however, countries in Europe have taken some issue with it. Many members of NATO fear that with the U.S. in partial control of Greenland’s minerals, new taxes may be imposed, causing a fallout of the organization. Some European states have openly stated that they do not support the U.S. actions, with others fearing that any show of force could end NATO entirely. Experts state that the U.S. already had partial rights to the Golden Dome, due to a 1951 agreement stating the U.S. could help construct military operations in Greenland. Overall, the U.S.’ plan of acquiring Greenland has been extremely controversial globally.