It is no secret U.S. President Donald J. Trump is hellbent on controlling Greenland. On Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, Trump stated, “It’s so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from a standpoint of national security.”
Trump’s statement was made on the heels of the military operation that resulted in the capture and arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, thus sounding an alarm across Europe and Denmark’s warning an American takeover of Greenland would result in the end of the NATO military alliance.
Tension was further tightened on Tuesday, when the White House stated Trump and his team were considering “a range of options” including “utilizing the U.S. military” for making Greenland part of the United States.
When is comes to Arctic security, Greenland has long been viewed as an area of high strategic importance. The rapid melting of ice continues to create opportunities that will reduce Asia-Europe travel time for shipping purposes compared to the Suez Canal. Greenland also straddles the GIUK gap, which is a naval choke point between Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom linking the Arctic and Atlantic Ocean.
In addition to shipping and protection, Greenland offers an abundance of untapped raw materials including oil reserves, mineral deposits, and rare earth elements. These are vital components for technologies emerging, such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, energy storage technologies, and national security applications. Last year, China repeatedly attempted to leverage its near monopoly of rare earth elements to pressure the U.S.
Clayton Allen, head of practice at Eurasia Group, stated, “Trump is a real estate guy. Greenland is sitting on some of the most valuable real estate in terms of economic advantage and strategic defense for the nest three to five decades.”
The United States already has a presence in Greenland. Formerly Thule Air Base, the Pituffik Space Base in in northwest Greenland across Baffin Bay from Nunavut, Canada. There are approximately 150 U.S. service members stationed there permanently. If Russia were to send ballistic missiles to the continental U.S. the shortest routes are Greenland and the North Pole, according to Otto Svendsen, associate fellow with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank.
Pituffik Space Base has an active airfield and the home of the northernmost deep-water port. Traditionally, it is pivotal to monitoring Russian submarines moving through the GIUK gap. Greenland also sits astride two possible shipping routes through the Arctic, the Northwest Passage and the Transpolar Sea Route. Warming temperatures, due to climate change, renders these routes more viable for commercial interest, adding to the national security value of Greenland, according to Svendsen.
Greenland would also prove useful to the U.S as a location for missile interceptors, particularly the “Golden Dome” missile defense system, similar to the “Iron Dome” system in Israel. The U.S. must be able to access to the Arctic. Greenland has tremendous access. Additionally, the U.S. wants air defenses deployed closer to Russia to combat next-generation weaponry not currently defensible with U.S. weaponry, ad Greenland provides that as well.
Director or the International Security Programme at the Chatham House think tank, in London, Marion Messmer, says both Russia and China have increased military activities in the Arctic in recent years and if they launched missiles at the U.S., they would most likely fly over Greenland. Messmer also stated, it is not clear why the U.S. needs full control over Greenland to defend itself.
“During the Cold War, the US stationed up to 6,000 troops across a range of camps across the island. It could presumably surge troop presence again if it felt it needed a greater presence in the region – without disputing Danish sovereignty,” asserted Messmer.
By Jeanette Vietti
Sources:
CNBC: Why Trump wants Greenland – and what makes it so important for national security
The Hill: Denmark, Greenland seek Rubio meeting after Trump remarks
CNN: The US has tried to acquire Greenland before – and failed
Axios: Trump’s Greenland threats put transatlantic on death watch
Featured Image Courtesy of Beechwood Photography’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
