Greenland is the world’s largest non-continental island, and it takes up space rent-free in President Donald Trump’s head.
Since 2019, Trump has floated the idea of the US acquiring Greenland, a sovereign Danish territory, in the name of American national security and economic interests. The idea was short-lived when Trump first raised it, but returned with force late last year.
Trump’s proposal took on a more urgent tone when, in a January 7 news conference at Mar-a-Lago, he declined to rule out the idea of using military force to seize control of Greenland.
Even more recently, according to the Financial Times, Trump reportedly spoke with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a “horrendous” call where he threatened tariffs. “The intent was very clear. They want it. The Danes are now in crisis mode,” one European official told the Financial Times.
The renewed fervor behind Trump’s push to acquire Greenland is driven, at least in part, by its clear geopolitical significance. Greenland rests amid major shipping routes that have become increasingly important as its ice sheet melts and new trade routes emerge, and it sits above major deposits of oil, gas, and rare earth minerals that are essential to everyday technologies.
Greenland is also at the forefront of an ongoing Arctic power struggle as Russia and China increase their trade, mining, and military presence in the region.
Unsurprisingly, leaders in Denmark and Greenland — which has its own parliament and prime minister, separate from Denmark — have pushed back strongly against US expansionism and rejected Trump’s overtures.
“We’re not for sale and we’re not a commodity,” Naaja H. Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister of Business, Trade, Mineral Resources, Justice, and Gender Equality, told Vox. “We have a great many friends in the US, so we are an American ally. But we are not Americans and do not wish to be Americans. We want to be Greenlanders.”
Nathanielsen spoke with Today, Explained host Noel King about Greenland’s increasing strategic importance, how Greenlanders view Trump’s rhetoric, and what America could actually do to work with the country.
Below is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. There’s much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.
I am imagining that many of our listeners will not have ever been to Greenland. Can you tell me a bit about what it’s like?
Well, I think many people who come here are surprised by two things. One thing is, of course, the beauty of the nature. Everything is vast and huge, the mountains, the fjords and all that. But another thing, I think, that struck a lot of people is it’s quite modern. I think oftentimes you think of Greenland as something where a few people live and there’s not a lot of activity, but our cities look like many others. It will be recognizable for many people.
And what kind of people are Greenlanders?
We are Inuit. We are Indigenous people. So we consist of — I think 90 percent of the population, most people here, are Greenlanders with Inuit roots. We do have a lot of people from the Nordic countries and from Asia as well. But primarily the population is made up by Inuit.
So we have a beautiful country with very modern cities. If someone were planning a visit and wanted to know what was really important, what should they know?
Well, they should know that Greenland is a modern democracy, that we have our own government, our own parliament. We have a mineral sector. We have tourism. We have a fishing industry. So these are our primary revenues. And also, you should know that the Greenlandic culture is very vibrant and rich, even though we’re only 55,000 people. So there’s a lot of music, a lot of plays, a lot of cultural activity, which is quite impressive for such a small population.
We were reminded in the first half of our show that Donald Trump has actually been talking about Greenland in provocative ways since 2019. Can I ask what you thought when you first heard him single your country out?
Well, in the beginning, I think we were kind of surprised about the offer to buy Greenland, and we have been trying to figure out what is that about, what is the story behind that.
And what do you understand is the story behind that?
We understand that it’s a measure of national security for the Americans. And to some extent, we understand very much that Greenland is part of the interest sphere of the US when it comes to national security. That is why we have a military base in Greenland.
And we do understand that this is important for the monitoring of the Arctic as well. So we do agree with the military presence in Greenland. We do agree with the ideas of expanding the monitoring of the Arctic. So to some extent we agree to what is being said, but that does not follow that we want to be Americans. It just follows that we understand that Greenland has an importance for the US in terms of national security.
You are a government minister, and I understand that diplomacy is something that is very important here. But I sort of put the shoe on the other foot and I think, as an American, if another country was talking about buying the United States, I personally would be a bit offended, to be perfectly honest with you.
Yes, but we are offended. And I think what you also need to understand, as Inuit we take things calmly. I mean, it doesn’t help the situation by panicking. So we’re not panicking, but we’re trying to understand what is this about and trying to work with it. The US is a very big country compared to Greenland. We’re only very few thousand people. So, of course, when the US says something, we need to take it seriously. And we understand that sometimes politicians talk a big game and have to deliver a message that is maybe more meant for an audience within the country. So I’m just saying, we are in the receiving end and we do not like the rhetoric. We don’t appreciate it. But we want to work with the message being sent. We want to figure out how can we talk about this in a sensible manner.
Sure. And being important in a strategic sense, in an economic sense, is never really a bad thing. Often it’s a very, very good thing for a country.
Fair enough! Which other countries have expressed interest in acquiring Greenland?
I think no other country has had an interest in acquiring Greenland. But we do feel that there’s more emphasis on the Greenlandic minerals, for instance, these past couple of years, on a very sad backdrop due to the climate crisis and the war in Ukraine and the pandemic that showed faulty supply chains. There’s been a focus on where could we find minerals and mine them in a country that is responsible in terms of environment and governance. And Greenland is a good fit in that way. So we have been seeing a spurt of interest. That’s not the same as [saying that] that has really shown itself in a lot of investments from outside. We are still lacking investment into the mineral sector, for instance.
So perhaps the message to President Trump is: We would actually welcome American investment.
We would welcome American investment. We actually made a deal with the former Trump administration in 2019, where we together explored some of our potentials and had some projects together. And we have been trying for some time to get the Biden administration to prolong or expand that agreement. So we are interested in doing business with the States. Of course, that doesn’t mean we want to be Americans, but we do want to work with the States in a business sense.
Donald Trump has said a handful of provocative things about Greenland, but perhaps one of the most provocative, at least from where I sit in the United States, is that he wouldn’t rule out military force in trying to acquire Greenland. First, I guess, does that kind of talk make you nervous? And second, how is the nation responding to something like that?
Well, of course this makes people nervous. We have kids that listen to the media and they say, “What is going on? Is the States going to come and occupy us?” So it’s very unfortunate rhetoric. So this has caused my government to really try to convey to the public: “Do not panic, we’re trying to work through this and figure out what is it about.” Because no, I don’t think that our ally would occupy us. Of course not. I don’t expect that from an ally. We are part of the Western alliance. We are part of NATO. We are a friend of the US. We are a democracy and so is the US. What we are trying to do is look beyond the rhetoric and see how can we work together after such a statement.
I do hear you saying something that I think is very important, which is that Donald Trump does talk a lot. And we learned in his first four years in office that sometimes he’s very serious and sometimes he’s actually just talking. He is talking at times to distract from other things that he’s doing. Sometimes he’s just sort of speaking extemporaneously and things slip out. I think it’s fair and factual to say both of those things. Is there any sense that you have that perhaps this is not all that serious?
I think there has been a genuine interest in Greenland for some time in America. So I think it’s a fair assessment that he should be taken seriously about his desire to expand cooperation with Greenland in some form or other. I think that has to be taken quite seriously. And it’s not only one person, as I understand it. As I see it, it’s a couple of people, a group of people who have an interest in Greenland. And you can see that also there has been a bill proposed about acquiring Greenland.
So I think this is not just one person saying something. Of course, you always need to take your president serious when he says something, and we do too. That’s the name of the game. But I get a sense that there is something more than just talk.
