Copenhagen, Denmark – To Donald Trump, the United States president who presents himself as an adept dealmaker, Greenland appears to be an irresistible opportunity.
He has long said he wants to buy the vast, semi-autonomous icy island that is part of Denmark, rich in untapped mineral resources and home to about 56,000 people.
In 2019, during his first term as president, Trump suggested that the US should buy Greenland, framing it as a real estate deal.
In 2025, president once again, Trump has said he is concerned about national and economic security, believing that that China and Russia pose a threat. Both nations have stepped up their military activities in the Arctic.
Trump has also questioned whether Denmark has rights to Greenland, and stated that if this is the case, Copenhagen should give it up to the US.
“I think Greenland we’ll get because it has to do with freedom of the world,” he told reporters on board Air Force One last month.
He has refused to rule out a military attack if his demands are not met, a threat that has opened a new chapter of tensions with Europe.
In 2019, the proposal was rejected.
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Kim Kielsen, then-chairman of the Naalakkersuisut, Greenland’s government, said the territory was not up for sale.
The Greenlandic and Danish governments now find themselves again underlining the same message.
The current chairman of Greenland’s government, Mute B Egede, has underscored aspirations of independence and confirmed an interest in cooperation with other powers – including Denmark, the European Union and the US.
Al Jazeera interviewed Birger Poppel, a social scientist and emeritus professor at the Ilisimatusarfik – the University of Greenland, about the rising tensions, Donald Trump Jr’s recent visit to Greenland, the latest opinion polls in the territory, the relationship with Denmark and the growing climate challenges in the Arctic due to increased shipping traffic.
Al Jazeera: Donald Trump Jr. visited Greenland in Donald Trump’s private jet to sell an idea – that being bought by the US would improve Greenland’s fortunes. According to local reports, some Greenlanders were coerced into saying on film that they lack everything and love the US. Do Greenlanders love the US?
Birger Poppel: Selling the idea very accurately summarises the purpose of Trump Jr’s half-day visit to Nuuk.
Trump’s vanguard arrived the day before, where they handed out MAGA hats to people they met, who then agreed to be in Nuuk airport when Junior and his PR team arrived.
Upon arrival, Junior was greeted by a local Trump supporter who had participated in Trump’s election campaign as an activist, together with a few handfuls of locals wearing MAGA hats and a group of curious Nuuk citizens.
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One of the events was a lunch at a local luxury restaurant, where locals – and primarily socially disadvantaged and resource-poor people – got a free meal.
Junior’s visit was a major PR stunt. He claimed he was on a tourist visit, but he and the group came with primarily political messages – based on fake news and manipulated information. This also applies to his statement about Greenlanders’ views on the United States.
Four out of the five parties in [Greenland’s Parliament] Inatsisartut – including both government parties – have Greenlandic independence as part of their political programmes. The majority of the Greenlandic population wants independence within 10-20 years, and on the condition that the standard of living can be maintained.
A recently published opinion poll shows that 85 percent of Greenlanders do not want Greenland to leave the Danish Realm and instead become part of the United States.
If the Greenlandic population were given the choice between being Danish or American citizens, 55 percent would choose Danish citizenship, while 8 percent would choose American citizenship.
Al Jazeera: How should Trump’s view that Greenland is linked to US national and economic security be assessed? Do China and Russia pose threats?
Poppel: If one takes Trump’s words at face value, the threat could hardly be stronger. It should also be noted that Trump has made a threat against one of the US’s most loyal NATO partners.
This is just one example of Trump’s failure to accept or respect a rules-based international social order where national borders are recognised. Thus, Trump’s statement also contributes to legitimising, for example, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war against Ukraine.
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The US has opportunities to achieve its geostrategic goals in Greenland with a base in north Greenland and a defence agreement with Denmark.
If “economic security” means access to raw material extraction of, for example, rare earth elements (REE), the Greenlandic self-government has invited the US and American companies to apply for exploration and development licences in Greenland.
Only one American company has a licence.
So, there may be reasons for Trump’s statements – either it’s because of insufficient insight into the actual conditions, or the desire to own Greenland is to appeal to core voters to point out that “Make America Great Again” must also be understood territorially, as is the case with the Panama Canal.
Al Jazeera: The Arctic was usually seen as frozen and remote not only geographically, but also politically. What’s changing?
Poppel: Global warming means, among other things, that the ice cover in the Arctic Ocean is decreasing in both extent and thickness. This has meant an increase of shipping traffic, not least through the Northeast Passage.
Increased shipping traffic will also mean increased traffic from China and Russia, with Trump apparently fearing that part of this traffic will consist of naval vessels from Russia and China.
In recent decades, Russia has – in line with the increased accessibility of the Russian Arctic coast – modernised and upgraded the military facilities along the coast and has also modernised the Russian navy with icebreakers.
In an interview, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified the US’s increased security needs in the Arctic, since China may want port facilities in Greenland. Rubio saw this as an argument for Trump’s desire for the US to possess Greenland.
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The five Arctic nations – Canada, Greenland/Denmark, Norway, and Russia, the United States – that border the Arctic Ocean, in the so-called Ilulissat Declaration from 2008, committed to resolving conflicts in the region by peaceful means. Ten years later – in 2018, the five Arctic coastal states confirmed the Ilulissat Declaration, thereby maintaining the Arctic as a low-tension area.
There is no doubt that both Russia and China have a growing interest in the Arctic. Russia, whose long coastline borders half of the Arctic Ocean, has modernised Arctic military installations, and China has an interest in the oil and gas from the Russian part of the Arctic and in future use of future Arctic sea lanes with lower transportation costs.
Al Jazeera: Europe was shocked by Trump’s promise to take Greenland over by any means necessary. The Danish government has launched plans to boost security in Greenland. How do you view Denmark’s response?
Poppel: The Greenlandic government and Greenlandic members of the Danish Parliament have pointed out the need of an increased priority for monitoring the Greenlandic territory and the waters off the coast of Greenland for years.
In 2019, the Danish government decided to increase monitoring of Greenland and allocated funds for this, but in the past four years, despite Greenlandic political pressure on the Danish government, nothing has been done to improve monitoring.
The US has the option – by agreement with Greenland and Denmark – to establish more bases but has not taken advantage of the individual option.
Al Jazeera: What can you tell us about the US’s base in Greenland?
Poppel: The US established Thule Air Base in 1953 after the area’s original inhabitants, the Inughuit, were forcibly relocated by the Danish state to make room for the base.
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The base, now called Pituffik Space Base, has early warning systems, the possibility of space surveillance and the command of satellites. The civilian part of the base has, at times, provided employment for both Greenlandic and Danish workers.
Al Jazeera: Are you concerned about the climate in the long term?
Poppel: Increased US production of fossil fuels will mean increased CO2 emissions and lead to rising temperatures and, thus, increased melting of all types of ice.
Trump dreams of being able to export more oil and gas, and the increased shipping traffic will further contribute to the climate impact.
Marco Rubio’s statements that the transportation of fossil fuels to a large extent should take place from the north and along the west coast of Greenland will also mean the risk of environmental disasters in the vulnerable Arctic marine environment and will, in any case, affect wildlife – not least marine mammals, which are very sensitive to noise.
