Since returning to power, Donald Trump has insisted he wants the United States to take over the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland and has even refused to rule out the use of force to achieve that aim. But what is really behind Trump’s interest in the island?
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Since his return to office, Donald Trump has had his eyes set on Greenland.
00:07Insisting that the United States takes a stronger position in the Arctic.
00:11Trump has gone so far as to refuse to rule out the use of force to achieve that aim.
00:16Greenland is a wonderful place.
00:18We need it for international security.
00:21Now the White House has announced that a U.S. delegation will be visiting the Arctic territory
00:25at the end of March.
00:27First it was announced that Usha Vance, the wife of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, would
00:31be visiting the island.
00:33Now J.D. Vance says he'll be going along too.
00:35Hey guys, it's J.D. Vance, the Vice President, and you know there was so much excitement
00:38around Usha's visit to Greenland this Friday that I decided that I didn't want her to have
00:43all that fun by herself and so I'm going to join her.
00:46It's really important.
00:47A lot of other countries have threatened Greenland, have threatened to use its territories and
00:52its waterways to threaten the United States, to threaten Canada, and of course to threaten
00:57the people of Greenland.
00:58So we're going to check out how things are going there.
01:00The visit, presented as private, has angered Greenlandic and Danish politicians.
01:04Yeah, well not provocation.
01:07This is friendliness, not provocation.
01:10The delegation's trip comes at a time of political flux in Greenland, where parties are still
01:14negotiating to form a new coalition government following a general election in mid-March.
01:19But this is not the first time Trump has set his sights on the territory.
01:23During his first term in office, Trump said he wanted to buy Greenland.
01:26The autonomous Danish territory holds massive untapped mineral and oil reserves.
01:30Now that the ice shelves are rapidly melting due to climate change, Greenland has become
01:34all the more desirable.
01:35I would say the time loop is becoming right and the reason why it's becoming right is
01:39because many of these deposits that we have are actually crucial for doing this green
01:45transition.
01:46These are super important.
01:48Greenland is also strategically situated between North America and Europe.
01:52This location puts the territory on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the
01:56U.S.
01:59There has also been heightened Chinese and Russian interest as the sea lanes open due
02:02to melting ice, with the ships from the two countries often found in Greenland's waters.
02:08We need that for international security, not just security, international.
02:13And we have a lot of our favorite players cruising around the coast.
02:18Right now, the only country threatening Greenland, that's actually the U.S.
02:23If he meant China or Russia, they're not threatening Greenland.
02:27They have not any interest in attacking Greenland.
02:32Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has criticized Trump for putting unacceptable
02:36pressure on both the territory and her country.
02:39Greenland is seeking to become fully independent from Copenhagen, having accused Denmark of
02:43historically suppressing the territory's culture, carrying out forced sterilizations,
02:48and removing children from their families.
02:51Of course we want to have independence from Denmark because we are seeing like lower ranking
02:59people from the Danish people.
03:03But about Trump, yeah, I don't know.
03:09We are not for sale.
03:11While most Greenlanders support independence, the majority are opposed to Trump's plans.
03:16And some have expressed concerns that a hasty break from Denmark could fuel Trump's ambitions.
03:21It is important, but I don't think it's going to happen now, especially with how the world
03:25is.
03:26I think if we become independent right now, America is going to take over.
03:31Greenland's likely new prime minister, Jens Frederik Nelsen, has insisted the U.S. delegation
03:35has not been invited to the island.
03:38Trump maintains they have.
03:39People from Greenland are asking us to go.
03:41We have many, many requests from many, many people.
03:44Some officials too.
03:45While Uschevansk initially had plans to visit a dog sledding race, Washington has decided
03:49to limit the delegation's visit to the U.S. Bedeviks space base, a move that has been
03:54welcomed by Denmark.