“President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States would take control of Greenland ‘one way or the other,’” reports CNBC:
Addressing a joint session of Congress in Washington, Trump said he had “a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland.”
“We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America,” he said about halfway through his 90-minute speech.
Trump also pledged to Greenlanders that America would “keep you safe, we will make you rich, and together, we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before.”
But in between the warm wishes Trump’s tone shifted, as he again made the case to Americans that U.S. control of the ice-covered Arctic landmass was crucial to their national security.
“We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it,” Trump said
“But we need it really for international, for world security, and I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” he said.
“It’s a very small population, but a very, very large piece of land. And very, very important for military security,” the president concluded, before moving on to a separate topic.
Greenland’s prime minister, Múte Bourup Egede, responded today by saying Greenland had no desire to be part of the United States:
“Kalaallit Nunaat is ours,” Egede said, using the Greenlandic name for his country. We don’t want to be Americans, nor Danes; We are Kalaallit. The Americans and their leader must understand that. We are not for sale and cannot simply be taken. Our future will be decided by us in Greenland,” he said. The post ended with a clenched fist emoji and a Greenlandic flag.
Greenland is huge — 836,000 square miles — which is bigger than the entire area of the United States east of the Mississippi River. But 81% of its land mass is an ice sheet that makes the area uninhabitable. Most of it is incredibly cold. Greenland has only 57,000 people, less than any U.S. state.
If Greenland were a state, it would likely elect two Democratic senators, because Greenland is governed by political parties to the left of most Democrats in the U.S.
The largest political party in Greenland is Inuit Ataqatigiit, a democratic socialist party started in 1976 by youth radicals. The second largest party is Siumut, a social democratic party. Those two left-wing parties control 22 of the 31 seats in Greenland’s parliament.
Greenland is poorer than the U.S., and absorbing it could end up resulting in America subsidizing it. Greenland is heavily subsidized by Denmark, which Greenland is nominally a part of. In most respects, Greenland is self-governing, under the Self-Government Act of 2009, but it is technically part of Denmark, which pays for a lot of welfare benefits for people in Greenland.
Trump’s desire for Greenland angers people in Denmark, which is a NATO ally of the United States. For example, Denmark sent troops to fight with America in Afghanistan.
Greenland’s per capita income is about $57,000, compared to America’s per capita income of about $82,000. It is about as poor as New Mexico, which receives a lot more money from U.S. taxpayers than it pays in taxes to the federal government.
Thus, Greenland might end up being a white elephant rather than a big asset for the U.S.
Greenland has various minerals that Donald Trump would like to exploit, but it would likely be costly to mine them, because Greenland is cold and remote. Moreover, Greenland does not bar Americans from setting up mines on Greenland, so America could presumably obtain minerals from Greenland without buying or occupying Greenland.
It is unclear from news reports whether Greenland has excessive restrictions on mining that could be eliminated if America took over Greenland. Some European countries ban fracking that it allowed in the U.S. and has created millions of jobs in the U.S., meaning that sometimes, taking over an area and getting rid of its mining restrictions might create jobs.
The only real case for the U.S. buying Greenland from Denmark would be if regulations in Greenland make it hard to mine, but those regulations could be abolished by the U.S. if it took over Greenland. But Denmark almost certainly won’t sell Greenland to America over the objections of Greenlanders, who don’t want to be part of the United States.
