Donald Trump Junior, landed this Tuesday, January 7 in Greenland. The eldest son of the president-elect visits this immense Arctic island near the North Pole. A visit “ sightseeing » and unofficial which makes Denmark cringe, since his father, Donald Trump, recently declared that Greenland should be attached to the United States.
4 mins
He is not the first American president to be interested in this icy island: in 1946, Harry Truman made an offer of 100 million dollars to Denmark to buy Greenland. An offer rejected by the colonial power which for 600 years has controlled this frozen territory of only 56,000 inhabitants over 2 million square kilometers.
Since 2019, Donald Trump has several times put forward the hypothesis of Greenland joining the United States. But in recent weeks, it’s bordering on obsession. Yesterday, Monday, he wrote on his social network Truth: “The Greenland is an incredible place and its people, if and when they become part of our nation, will benefit enormously. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN !”
Just before Christmas, Donald Trump had already judged that “for national security and freedom throughout the world, the United States of America believes that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”.
Each time, the Danish authorities grind their teeth and remind us that “the Greenland is not for sale ». After the plane carrying Donald Trump Junior landed in Nuuk, who said “ not be there to buy Greenland », Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen declared on television that “ Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders » and recalled: “ the United States is our closest ally.”
Indeed, it is difficult to imagine the Americans invading one of their closest allies in Northern Europe. So why is Donald Trump fueling this fantasy of Greenland joining the United States?
Partly, perhaps, to put pressure on Denmark. For years, Washington has criticized Copenhagen for not having invested enough in the security of this strategic island, located between Europe and the United States, where the northernmost military base of the United States is located.
This Thule air and space base is an essential link in the chain of radars supposed to detect possible ballistic missiles fired from Eurasia towards the United States.
Greenland’s territorial waters are also crossed by the Arctic Northwest Passage, which is becoming more and more passable with global warming and will one day make it possible to avoid the Panama Canal to connect the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Coincidence of timing, or response to Donald Trump’s provocations? Denmark announced at Christmas that it had released more than $1.5 billion for the defense of Greenland and the Arctic maritime routes, increasingly coveted by Russia and China.
An attempt, also, to curb the growing separatist demands on this autonomous territory. In this former colony of the Danish crown, the recent scandal over the policy of forced contraception of Greenlandic women carried out by Denmark in the 1960s and 1970s has reawakened desires for independence. The Greenlandic Prime Minister, Mute Egede, accuses Copenhagen of “ genocide », and with the approach of elections in Greenland in April, insists that the island leaves the fold of Denmark.
Also readAn investigation into the forced insertion of IUDs on Inuit women in Greenland
But financially, independence would only be possible with the help of external investors interested in the natural resources of the island, rich in hydrocarbons, with significant fish stocks and deposits of rare earths. Because Greenland largely depends on Danish subsidies which amount to 550 million dollars each year.
The fact that Donald Trump wants to authorize more oil and gas exploration in the United States in Alaska, particularly in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, is fueling fantasies about his intentions in Greenland, where oil exploration is banned on land and at sea.
While greeting the New Year, Nuuk Head of Government Mute Egede said: “ Our cooperation with other countries and our trade relations cannot continue to be carried out only through Denmark “. In this context, Donald Trump’s provocative pretensions also serve as negotiating leverage for the Greenlandic authorities, who wish to free themselves from the control of Copenhagen.
Also readPanama Canal, Canada, Greenland: Donald Trump’s expansionist dream