Why Greenland’s prime location captures Trump’s real-estate investor instincts
Location, location, location: its position above the Arctic Circle makes the world’s largest island a strategic linchpin. But the question remains: for which nation’s benefit?
Rising global tensions, climate change, and shifts in the world economy have positioned Greenland at the center of discussions on international trade and security. U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed a desire for his nation to command the territory that oversees the Arctic and its approaches.
Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, which has rebuffed Trump’s advances. The local government in Greenland also opposes American ambitions for the island, asserting that its people alone will determine their future.
Eighty percent of the island lies north of the Arctic Circle, and it is inhabited by approximately 56,000 people, predominantly Inuit, who have historically received little attention from the global community.
The following points outline Greenland’s strategic significance for Arctic security:
Greenland’s location is key
Positioned off Canada’s northeastern coast, over two-thirds of Greenland is within the Arctic Circle. This geography has made it vital for North American defense since World War II, when the United States occupied it to prevent a Nazi German takeover and to secure key North Atlantic shipping routes.
After the Cold War, the Arctic region was primarily one of international collaboration. However, climate change is melting sea ice, which could open a northwest passage for global commerce and has renewed rivalry with Russia, China, and others over the area’s mineral wealth.
Security threats to the Arctic
In 2018, China labeled itself a “near-Arctic state” to bolster its regional influence. It has also unveiled plans for a “Polar Silk Road” under its Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to build economic connections worldwide.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized China’s stance, asking, “Do we want the Arctic Ocean to become a new South China Sea, marked by militarization and conflicting territorial claims?”
Simultaneously, Russia has worked to expand its influence across vast Arctic zones, competing with the U.S., Canada, Denmark, and Norway. Moscow is also enhancing its military footprint in the polar region, where its Northern Fleet is based and where the Soviet Union conducted nuclear tests. Russian military authorities have stated the site is prepared to restart testing if needed.
In recent years, the Russian military has been renovating old Soviet Arctic infrastructure and constructing new installations. Since 2014, it has established several Arctic military bases and refurbished airfields.
Concerns about Russia’s intentions escalated after its invasion of Ukraine. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin remarked that Russia is concerned by NATO’s Arctic activities and will react by bolstering its military capabilities there.
“Russia has never threatened anyone in the Arctic, but we will closely monitor the situation and provide a suitable response by enhancing our military potential and updating our military infrastructure,” Putin stated in March at a policy forum in the Arctic port city of Murmansk.
He added, however, that Moscow remains open to wider international cooperation in the area.
U.S. military presence in Greenland
The U.S. Space Force runs the isolated Pituffik Space Base in northwest Greenland, established after the 1951 Defense of Greenland Treaty with Denmark. The base provides missile warning, missile defense, and space surveillance for the United States and NATO.
Greenland also helps monitor a section of the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) gap, a strategic passage where NATO tracks submarine movements in the North Atlantic.
Danish armed forces in Greenland
Denmark is taking steps to reinforce its defenses in the Greenland area and the broader North Atlantic. Last year, the government revealed a deal worth about 14.6 billion kroner ($2.3 billion) with partners, including the governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands—another Danish self-governing territory—to “enhance surveillance and sovereignty maintenance capabilities in the region.”
The strategy involves three new Arctic patrol ships, two extra long-range surveillance drones, and expanded satellite capacity.
Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command is based in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, and is responsible for the “surveillance, sovereignty assertion, and military defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands,” as per its website. It maintains smaller outposts across the island.
The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish naval unit that performs long-range reconnaissance and upholds Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, is also deployed in Greenland.
Rich source of rare earth minerals
Greenland is also abundant in rare earth minerals, essential components in mobile phones, computers, batteries, and other high-tech devices that are anticipated to drive the global economy in future decades.
This has drawn the attention of the United States and other Western nations as they attempt to reduce China’s control over the market for these crucial minerals.
Exploiting Greenland’s mineral deposits is difficult due to the severe climate, and stringent environmental regulations present a further obstacle for would-be investors.
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Stefanie Dazio in Berlin and Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.