Donald Trump wants to buy, or take over, Greenland. Since the end of December, he has been consistently discussing the Arctic island becoming part of the USA.
His son has travelled there, his has refused to rule out military involvement, and his comments have angered Denmark and other European countries.
Why does Trump want Greenland? Why is Greenland currently Danish? And what will actually happen in the future?
Let’s discuss this in today’s episode of Thinking in English!
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Vocabulary
- Autonomous (adjective): Having self-government or independence to make decisions, especially at the local level.
- Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
- Territory (noun): An area of land under the control of a particular government or ruler.
- Greenland is the largest island in the world but most of the territory is under ice.
- Norse (adjective): Relating to the ancient people of Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark).
- Norse explorers, such as Erik the Red, established settlements in Greenland during the 10th century.
- Security (noun): The state of being protected from danger or threats; measures taken to ensure safety.
- Donald Trump argued that Greenland is vital for the United States’ national and economic security.
- Purchase (verb): To buy something
- The United States expanded its territory through the purchase of land from other countries.
- Independence (noun): The state of being self-governing.
- Greenland has not declared full independence from Denmark.
- Rule out (phrasal verb): To exclude or eliminate something as a possibility or option.
- Despite speculation, Trump has refused to rule out military action to gain control of Greenland.
Introducing Greenland
Greenland is largest island in the world. It is located in the Arctic, and geographically is part of North America.
The capital city of Greenland is the Nuuk. Greenland is a large place – you could fit the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Denmark, Austria, and Belgium into its territory.
Despite its large size, Greenland is the world’s most sparsely populated territory. “Sparse” means small in number and spread over a large area. Despite being bigger that most of western Europe, Greenland only has about 56,000 people living there.
This is mainly due to the fact that over 80% of the island is ice. The vast majority of people living on Greenland are the indigenous Inuit or Greenlandic people, and the official languages are West Greenlandic and Danish.
Greenland is not a country. It is actually an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. In fact, Greenland has been controlled by Denmark for over 300 years, first as a colony and now as an autonomous territory.
What does autonomous territory mean?
Greenland has its own government, which controls most of the politics inside the territory, but Denmark controls the foreign affairs and defence of the island.
The island’s economy has relied on fishing, but in recent years they have tried to diversify. Moreover, Greenland has massive deposits of rare earth materials, metals, and fossil fuels under the ice that could one day be mined and extracted.
History of Greenland
Greenland is not an easy place to establish a life. The first settlers are believed to have arrived on the island over 4000 years ago from the North American mainland.
The history of early Greenland involved people moving to the island from North America, usually in the north of the island, and then eventually disappearing. Another group would then move in.
For example, archaeologists have discovered evidence of people (called the Early Dorset people) living on Greenland until the 1st century CE. The island was then uninhabited (no one living there) until the year 700 when the Late Dorset people settled in the North of the Island again.
The Late Dorset culture survived until about the 13th century, when it was replaced by the Thule people. The Thule were great hunters of animals like walrus and seals, adapted well to the island, and are the ancestors of the modern Greenlandic Inuit people.
Interestingly, another group of people were already living on Greenland when the ancestors of modern Inuit first arrived – Norse people.
Sailors from Norway and Iceland knew about Greenland from the early 10th century. Erik the Red, a Norse explorer, saw the territory and named it Greenland (an odd choice). In the year 985 he established the first Norse settlement on the island.
Interestingly, Erik the Red’s son was Leaf Erikson, the first European to reach mainland North America.
The Norse settlements of Greenland lasted around 500 years until around the year 1500. No one knows for sure why they abandoned their settlements, but some theories include environmental damage; loss of European support; conflicts with the Thule people; and opportunities for people to move to Iceland or mainland Europe.
Why is Greenland Part of Denmark?
After a few centuries with no Norse settlements on the island, a Danish colony was established again in the 18th century. Denmark took full control of trade with Greenland and the island was closed to foreign trade.
Danish control continued, and in 1921 the United States recognised Denmark as the owner of the island (Denmark had recently sold its Caribbean colonies to the United States).
In 1953 Denmark changed the status of Greenland to a county or region of modern Denmark, making the people living their Danish citizens and the island part of Denmark.
In 1979, Greenland was granted home rule. This means that the people of Greenland could finally make their own decisions and politics. They renamed the capital city to Nuuk, chose their own flag, and began to promote Inuit language and culture.
In 2008, Greenland voted for further autonomy from Denmark, giving them more control over their resources and laws.
Technically, Greenland is now one of the 3 Danish territories that make up the Danish kingdom – alongside Denmark and the Faroe Islands.
Trump and Greenland
Since the US election in November, Greenland has been making the news regularly. Donald Trump, president of the USA, has repeatedly and publicly called for the US to take control of Greenland.
This is not actually a new idea – Trump has been publicly discussing Greenland joining the USA since at least 2019.
Trump claims that Greenland is essential to US national and economic security. He has said that “we need Greenland for national security purposes” and that “the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity“.
During a press conference in early January, he also stated that the US needed Greenland for “economic security”.
Most of the discussion has been around the US purchasing Greenland from Denmark. This might sound strange, but a lot of US territory was purchased from other countries. Most of the States in the middle of the country were bought from France, Florida from Spain, and Alaska from Russia.
Concerningly, Trump has not ruled out the use of military force to take control of Greenland if he can’t buy the Island. He has also threatened Denmark with steep tariffs if it does not give up control of Greenland.
His son visited the island just a few weeks ago, and the media have been discussing this story constantly (alongside Trump’s other suggestions of taking over Canada and Panama).
Why Does Trump Want to Buy in Greenland?
Trump has stated repeatedly that he wants Greenland for security reasons, but what does this really mean?
Greenland is in a very important location. It is in between the USA, Europe, and Russia, which makes it useful for defence reasons. Already, the US has a military base on the island (and they used to keep nuclear weapons there) as it is so close to Russia.
The other security element is “economic security.”
Underneath the ice of Greenland are large amounts of valuable minerals, metals, and fossil fuels. Most of these resources are completely untouched, but in the future they could give Greenland a lot of wealth.
Also, as global warming continues, and the arctic ice melts, there is a possibility that new trade and shipping routes may open around Greenland. While it is now impossible for most ships to travel through the frozen waters north of Greenland, in the future it may be possible.
This would allow ships to travel from Asia to Europe far quicker than currently. Ownership of Greenland would give the United States greater control, power, and influence over these new trade routes.
Trump also has concerns over Russian and Chinese ships operating in the seas around the Arctic and believes that Greenland would provide the US with more protection.
There are also other reasons Trump may want to buy Greenland.
For example, since the 1970s Greenland has gradually gained more rights and autonomy from mainland Denmark. Greenland is now autonomous meaning it controls itself and makes its own decisions.
Some US officials (not just Trump) are concerned that eventually Greenland could become independent. This might not happen soon, but one day in the future Greenland could vote to become its own country.
Right now, Greenland is allied with the US due to Denmark – Denmark is a NATO and EU member. If it became independent, the future would be less clear. Would Greenland stay in NATO? Would they trade with the EU and the US, or perhaps with China? What would happen to the US military bases?
If the US owned Greenland, they would not need to worry about the status of the island.
And finally, Trump may just want to make history as President. Expanding the USA through the purchase or acquisition of territory is a sure way to be remembered for decades, and centuries, to come.
What Will Happen to Greenland?
So, what will actually happen in this situation?
Denmark and other European countries have strongly resisted Trump’s suggestions, and there is now the strange situation of two strong allies (the US and Denmark) publicly arguing.
The BBC released a useful article a few weeks ago stating four possible outcomes, so I thought I would summarise these.
First, nothing happens.
The most likely situation is that Trump loses interest in purchasing Greenland as more important things will occur as president. In fact, if the US is focused on security, Denmark increasing its military spending around Greenland would also achieve the US goals.
Second, Greenland might become independent.
Greenlandic independence will probably happen at some point in the future, but people won’t vote for it unless they can keep the economic support from Denmark (or another financial source).
The US has had a permanent military presence on Greenland since World War 2 and will probably never leave. An independent Greenland would likely have close ties to the US.
Third, the US could put tariffs or sanctions on Denmark (or even the entire EU). He has already been talking about introducing tariffs, but there could be higher levels on Denmark.
And finally, the least likely option, is Trump invading Greenland. This probably won’t happen, but Trump has refused to rule out military action.
The US has military bases on Greenland and could take over the island easily and quickly. However, invading Greenland means invading Danish territory, and invading NATO, destroying the alliance.
Final Thought
Greenland is a massive, sparsely populated island with untapped resources and a strategic location. While it is an autonomous territory of Denmark at the moment, its future is currently the subject of articles and news stories across the world.
Recent interest from the United States, particularly Donald Trump, underscores the island’s significance, from its natural resources to its potential as a strategic trade hub.
While US ownership or military action are unlikely, Greenland’s future remains a subject of discussions and news stories.
What do you think? What will happen to Greenland?
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I have enjoyed this episode, now I feel more educated about politics. We can’t anticipate the actions of the US, but we can say that if Greenland becomes independent, it will lose its protection from Denmark and, in turn, NATO. However, I believe this is the only thing that prevents a US invasion. Curently, Greanlandic people are surely bothered by this situation, because it delays their independance from Denmark.