Donald Trump repeated his expansionist ambitions concerning Greenland. “In one way or another, we will get it,” he said before the American Congress. Venies combated by the EU, including France.
Donald Trump has never hidden his ambitions on Greenland. In front of the Congress, this Tuesday, March 4, 2025, the American president once again expressed his desire to annex the island. The latter intends to recover this land of ice “in one way or another”. Large as four times the Francethis territory attracts lusts first for the mining resources at its disposal, but not only.
“I also have a message to send this evening to the incredible people of Greenland. We firmly support your right to determine your own future and, if you wish, we welcome you to the United States of America,” said the former real estate magnet. As a reminder, the largest Arctic island is for the moment an autonomous Danish territory.
“We really need it for international security and I think we are going to get it,” said Trump in his first general policy speech since his return to power on January 20. “We will ensure your safety, we will make you rich and, together, we will lead to Greenland to summits that you would never have imagined possible,” he promised. On March 11, legislative elections will take place in Greenland. The independence claims of the inuit residents of the territory could precisely give credit to the repeated foot calls of Donald Trump.
An ideal geostrategic situation and a rich (very) rich soil
In Greenland, the United States already have an air and spatial base, which had been authorized in the middle of the Cold War by the DenmarkWashington ally. Greenland is also geographically strategic, while it is located on the shortest road between America and Europe. Precisely, this maritime space represents a fundamental issue for Donald Trump. With the melting of ice, this kind of passages will shorten distances on a global scale. DoThe interest in the United States to have such a territory for naval transport and trade. These new roads “could reduce the routing times between North America, Europe and Asia by 30 % to 50 %,” said Forbes.
But this relentlessness of Donald Trump on Greenland – which had already made a similar offer in 2019 – is enough to annoy the Danish government. “We are not for sale,” assured the Prime Minister of Greenland last December. The Danish Minister of Defense, Troels Lund Poulsen, announced the considerable increase in defense expenses for the island, equivalent to 1.5 billion euros.
But that’s not all. Greenland is also important reserves of hydrocarbons and rare land deposits such as dysprosium and neodymium, used to “make almost, from mobile phones to cars through military equipment”, according to The Wall Street Journal. According to the American daily life, the island “holds 1.5 million tonnes of reserves of these materials, which is not far from the 1.8 million tonnes of the United States”. Forbes adds that if the United States came to hand over Greenland, it could significantly reduce its dependence “with regard to China which currently controls more than 80 % of world production of rare land”.
Franco-German warnings
What can France and the European Union do in an attempt to reason with the American president and prevent him from delighting Greenland? The question is delicate and slowing down the expansionist hints of the world’s leading power is not an easy task. The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that “the principle of the inviolability of borders applies to all countries … whether very small or very powerful”.
For his part, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot recalled in January that “the borders of the European Union are not negotiable” and that “if Denmark requests the solidarity of the EU member states, France will respond”. “Should we let yourself be intimidated and worrying, this is clearly not the case. You have to wake up, strengthen yourself,” he said.
Despite rather authoritarian outings, hostile to President Trump, it is “difficult to imagine how the EU could prevent any potential attack. It has no clean defensive capacity and there most of its 27 member states are part of NATO” … like the United States, recalls the Bbc. Especially since Donald Trump does not exclude using military force to seize Greenland: “No, I cannot guarantee you either on one, or the other”, the other being the Panama canal, just as coveted by the United States. Despite the warnings of France and Germany, the margin ofEU maneuver appears today quite relative in the face of the American disproportionate strike force.