Greenland is the world’s largest non-continental island, and it takes up area rent-free in President Donald Trump’s head.
Since 2019, Trump has floated the thought of the US buying Greenland, a sovereign Danish territory, within the identify of American nationwide safety and financial pursuits. The thought was short-lived when Trump first raised it, however returned with power late final yr.
Trump’s proposal took on a extra pressing tone when, in a January 7 information convention at Mar-a-Lago, he declined to rule out the thought of utilizing army power to grab management of Greenland.
Much more lately, in line with the Monetary Instances, Trump reportedly spoke with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a “horrendous” name the place he threatened tariffs. “The intent was very clear. They need it. The Danes at the moment are in disaster mode,” one European official instructed the Monetary Instances.
The renewed fervor behind Trump’s push to amass Greenland is pushed, no less than partly, by its clear geopolitical significance. Greenland rests amid main transport routes which have develop into more and more essential as its ice sheet melts and new commerce routes emerge, and it sits above main deposits of oil, fuel, and uncommon earth minerals which are important to on a regular basis applied sciences.
Greenland can also be on the forefront of an ongoing Arctic energy wrestle as Russia and China improve their commerce, mining, and army presence within the area.
Unsurprisingly, leaders in Denmark and Greenland — which has its personal parliament and prime minister, separate from Denmark — have pushed again strongly towards US expansionism and rejected Trump’s overtures.
“We’re not on the market and we’re not a commodity,” Naaja H. Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister of Enterprise, Commerce, Mineral Sources, Justice, and Gender Equality, instructed Vox. “We’ve got an ideal many pals within the US, so we’re an American ally. However we aren’t Individuals and don’t want to be Individuals. We need to be Greenlanders.”
Nathanielsen spoke with At present, Defined host Noel King about Greenland’s growing strategic significance, how Greenlanders view Trump’s rhetoric, and what America may truly do to work with the nation.
Beneath is an excerpt of their dialog, edited for size and readability. There’s way more within the full podcast, so take heed to At present, Defined wherever you get your podcasts, together with Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.
I’m imagining that lots of our listeners won’t have ever been to Greenland. Are you able to inform me a bit about what it’s like?
Properly, I feel many individuals who come listed here are stunned by two issues. One factor is, in fact, the fantastic thing about the character. All the pieces is huge and big, the mountains, the fjords and all that. However one other factor, I feel, that struck lots of people is it’s fairly trendy. I feel oftentimes you consider Greenland as one thing the place a number of folks reside and there’s not numerous exercise, however our cities appear like many others. Will probably be recognizable for many individuals.
And how much persons are Greenlanders?
We’re Inuit. We’re Indigenous folks. So we encompass — I feel 90 p.c of the inhabitants, most individuals right here, are Greenlanders with Inuit roots. We do have lots of people from the Nordic international locations and from Asia as nicely. However primarily the inhabitants is made up by Inuit.
So now we have an exquisite nation with very trendy cities. If somebody had been planning a go to and needed to know what was actually essential, what ought to they know?
Properly, they need to know that Greenland is a trendy democracy, that now we have our personal authorities, our personal parliament. We’ve got a mineral sector. We’ve got tourism. We’ve got a fishing trade. So these are our main revenues. And in addition, you need to know that the Greenlandic tradition could be very vibrant and wealthy, despite the fact that we’re solely 55,000 folks. So there’s numerous music, numerous performs, numerous cultural exercise, which is sort of spectacular for such a small inhabitants.
We had been reminded within the first half of our present that Donald Trump has truly been speaking about Greenland in provocative methods since 2019. Can I ask what you thought once you first heard him single your nation out?
Properly, at first, I feel we had been type of stunned in regards to the provide to purchase Greenland, and now we have been attempting to determine what’s that about, what’s the story behind that.
And what do you perceive is the story behind that?
We perceive that it’s a measure of nationwide safety for the Individuals. And to some extent, we perceive very a lot that Greenland is a part of the curiosity sphere of the US in relation to nationwide safety. That’s the reason now we have a army base in Greenland.
And we do perceive that that is essential for the monitoring of the Arctic as nicely. So we do agree with the army presence in Greenland. We do agree with the concepts of increasing the monitoring of the Arctic. So to some extent we agree to what’s being mentioned, however that doesn’t observe that we need to be Individuals. It simply follows that we perceive that Greenland has an significance for the US when it comes to nationwide safety.
You’re a authorities minister, and I perceive that diplomacy is one thing that is essential right here. However I form of put the shoe on the opposite foot and I feel, as an American, if one other nation was speaking about shopping for the US, I personally could be a bit offended, to be completely sincere with you.
Sure, however we’re offended. And I feel what you additionally want to know, as Inuit we take issues calmly. I imply, it doesn’t assist the scenario by panicking. So we’re not panicking, however we’re attempting to know what is that this about and attempting to work with it. The US is a really massive nation in comparison with Greenland. We’re solely only a few thousand folks. So, in fact, when the US says one thing, we have to take it severely. And we perceive that typically politicians discuss a giant recreation and should ship a message that’s possibly extra meant for an viewers throughout the nation. So I’m simply saying, we’re within the receiving finish and we don’t just like the rhetoric. We don’t admire it. However we need to work with the message being despatched. We need to determine how can we speak about this in a wise method.
Positive. And being essential in a strategic sense, in an financial sense, is rarely actually a foul factor. Usually it’s a really, excellent factor for a rustic.
Honest sufficient! Which different international locations have expressed curiosity in buying Greenland?
I feel no different nation has had an curiosity in buying Greenland. However we do really feel that there’s extra emphasis on the Greenlandic minerals, for example, these previous couple of years, on a really unhappy backdrop because of the local weather disaster and the battle in Ukraine and the pandemic that confirmed defective provide chains. There’s been a concentrate on the place may we discover minerals and mine them in a rustic that’s accountable when it comes to setting and governance. And Greenland is an efficient slot in that means. So now we have been seeing a spurt of curiosity. That’s not the identical as [saying that] that has actually proven itself in numerous investments from outdoors. We’re nonetheless missing funding into the mineral sector, for example.
So maybe the message to President Trump is: We might truly welcome American funding.
We might welcome American funding. We truly made a cope with the previous Trump administration in 2019, the place we collectively explored a few of our potentials and had some tasks collectively. And now we have been attempting for a while to get the Biden administration to lengthen or broaden that settlement. So we have an interest in doing enterprise with the States. In fact, that doesn’t imply we need to be Individuals, however we do need to work with the States in a enterprise sense.
Donald Trump has mentioned a handful of provocative issues about Greenland, however maybe one of the provocative, no less than from the place I sit in the US, is that he wouldn’t rule out army power in attempting to amass Greenland. First, I suppose, does that type of discuss make you nervous? And second, how is the nation responding to one thing like that?
Properly, in fact this makes folks nervous. We’ve got youngsters that take heed to the media and so they say, “What’s going on? Is the States going to come back and occupy us?” So it’s very unlucky rhetoric. So this has induced my authorities to essentially attempt to convey to the general public: “Don’t panic, we’re attempting to work via this and determine what’s it about.” As a result of no, I don’t assume that our ally would occupy us. In fact not. I don’t count on that from an ally. We’re a part of the Western alliance. We’re a part of NATO. We’re a buddy of the US. We’re a democracy and so is the US. What we are attempting to do is look past the rhetoric and see how can we work collectively after such a press release.
I do hear you saying one thing that I feel is essential, which is that Donald Trump does discuss lots. And we discovered in his first 4 years in workplace that typically he’s very critical and typically he’s truly simply speaking. He’s speaking at occasions to distract from different issues that he’s doing. Generally he’s simply form of talking extemporaneously and issues slip out. I feel it’s honest and factual to say each of these issues. Is there any sense that you’ve that maybe this isn’t all that critical?
I feel there was a real curiosity in Greenland for a while in America. So I feel it’s a good evaluation that he needs to be taken severely about his need to broaden cooperation with Greenland in some kind or different. I feel that must be taken fairly severely. And it’s not just one particular person, as I perceive it. As I see it, it’s a few folks, a gaggle of people that have an curiosity in Greenland. And you’ll see that additionally there was a invoice proposed about buying Greenland.
So I feel this isn’t only one particular person saying one thing. In fact, you at all times must take your president critical when he says one thing, and we do too. That’s the secret. However I get a way that there’s something extra than simply discuss.
