Greenland, its Future, and Donald Trump’s Desire to be a Part of It

Jan 12

3 min read

As Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day quickly approaches, the President-elect has wasted little time in preparing for his second term in the Oval Office. While Trump faces the challenge of keeping the promises he made on the campaign trail regarding the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, he also continues to express his interest in Greenland, the world’s largest island.

Donald Trump first publicly confirmed his interest in Greenland in August of 2019 when he posted an edited photo of a Trump Hotel in Greenland on Twitter (now “X”) with the caption: “I promise not to do this to Greenland!” Given Trump’s less than serious tone, news outlets struggled to gauge the validity of Trump’s interest. On CNN’s “THE PO!NT with Chris Cillizza,” Chris joked: “Greenland is an OK name for a country, but what about if we call it Trumpland instead? Eh? Mm?”

Nearly five and a half years later, Donald Trump’s renewed interest in Greenland is being taken more seriously. Major news outlets like CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, BBC News, and The Associated Press have been reaching out to speak with Danish and Greenlandic officials.

After Donald Trump Jr.'s recent trip to Greenland's capital city of Nuuk, CNN anchor and former White House Correspondent Jim Acosta spoke with CNN Senior International Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen. Jim Acosta nodded along as Frederik pointed out the United States' substantial military presence already on the island since the Cold War, as well as the growing concern for China's recent interest in Greenland as well.

Due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, citizens of the United States have become more invested in understanding the Russian and Chinese alliance after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Though China does not own any coastline along the Arctic Ocean, China has been aligning itself with Russia to extend their “Silk Road” to the Arctic Ocean and gain better access to the natural resources there.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Arctic Council suspended cooperation with Moscow and paused a third of all Arctic Council projects concerning the eight Arctic States. The Arctic Council describes itself as “the leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination, and interaction among the Arctic States.” With limited formal engagement with Russia over the past three years, the Arctic Council and the West have experienced difficulty in accurately placing a finger on the pulse of relations between Russia, China, and the West and its allies.

As Donald Trump prepares for his second term in office, he has repeatedly stressed the importance of the United States acquiring Greenland for national security purposes. Greenland’s Arctic coastline would be an important addition to the United States, given the fact that Russia already owns 53% of all Arctic coastline, and that the United States' limited access to the Arctic is solely through the state of Alaska.

While Donald Trump appears optimistic in pursuing the acquisition of Greenland, the process of officially acquiring the world’s largest island has hardly begun. The Kingdom of Denmark has yet to show any interest in selling its largest autonomous territory, though there is speculation that Denmark may not have as much control over a potential acquisition as it has let on.

Given that Greenland is a self-governing territory, Greenland’s Prime Minister believes that there is a legal basis for Greenland to continue its pursuit of independence from the Kingdom of Denmark. If Greenland did pursue independence in full, future acquisition by the United States would still be a separate issue.

Donald Trump’s most recent interest has proven influential and has created unprecedented ripples within Danish politics. Denmark’s King Frederik X recently updated Denmark’s royal coat of arms to feature its autonomous territories of Greenland and the Faroe Islands more prominently.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with a potential acquisition of Greenland by the United States, it appears that all parties involved are acting more seriously than they were five years ago. Given the triangular nature of the relationship between the United States, Greenland, and Denmark, it is a very real possibility that Greenland’s current status as an “autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark” may change in the near future.