What to find out about Trump and his eager curiosity in Greenland

Donald Trump, Jr. made a whirlwind go to to Greenland on Tuesday — as a vacationer, he says. He was met by native supporters and a Danish newspaper even blogged the go to.

The journey comes within the wake of latest feedback by his father, President-elect Donald Trump, expressing curiosity within the U.S. shopping for the island.

Trump Jr. instructed the native media that he was in Greenland for a “very long personal day trip” — no procuring concerned.

This is what to find out about Greenland and Trump’s curiosity within the autonomous territory of Denmark.

What has Trump stated in regards to the U.S. and Greenland?

The president-elect talked about shopping for Greenland whereas he was on the marketing campaign path and revived curiosity once more final month after he stated on Fact Social that “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”

Forward of his son’s journey to Greenland this week, Trump wrote on Fact Social that “Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation” and that “This can be a deal that should occur.“

Throughout a press convention Tuesday, the president-elect stated he could not rule out utilizing army or financial coercion in an effort to seize Greenland or the Panama Canal.

Narsaq, a city of 1,200 in southern Greenland, sits close to the Kvanefjeld mission, certainly one of two main uncommon earth mineral deposits in Greenland. The Arctic island has a wealth of uncommon earth sources that the U.S. has labeled as important to nationwide protection.

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Trump’s aspirations to purchase Greenland date again at the least to August 2019, throughout his first time period within the White Home. On the time, he defended his concept partly by saying he wasn’t the primary U.S. chief to counsel it.

So why Greenland?

It is not precisely clear what Trump’s ambitions are for a U.S.-controlled Greenland. However on Tuesday, he stated the U.S. wants each Greenland and the Panama Canal for “economic security.”

Consultants say Greenland has nice worth, each geopolitically and as a supply for very important minerals, that would help a rustic in the long run. 

“From the perspective of the Arctic, Greenland is our eyes on everything that’s going on, including on the Northern Sea Route, which is controlled by Russia,” Amanda Lynch, professor of Earth sciences at Brown College, tells NPR. “In addition, Greenland has many resources – not just hydrocarbons, but also rare earth minerals and uranium. And when we’re thinking about the green energy transition, access to rare earth minerals in particular is important for any nation.”

Nonetheless, it is not very probably that Trump may take over Greenland, Lynch says. As an alternative, it might be extra productive for the U.S. to pursue sturdy partnerships and help sovereign governments to “develop their assets and to work with us.”

“And if we’re positive actors in that space, then I think that that’s both the more positive and also the more likely path forward,” she says.

Greenland, which is about thrice the dimensions of Texas and has a inhabitants of greater than 56,000 individuals, is an autonomous territory of Denmark and the world’s largest island that is not a continent. It nonetheless depends on Denmark for international, protection and safety coverage, however has its personal parliament, premier and Cupboard.

What have Greenland and Denmark stated?

When Trump first floated the concept of the U.S. shopping for Greenland in August 2019, Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, stated then that, “Greenland is not for sale.”

Frederiksen urged respect for Greenland after Trump’s press convention.

An iceberg floats within the fjord outdoors of Narsaq.

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Claire Harbage/NPR

“We need very, very close cooperation with the United States,” Frederiksen stated in response to Danish tv’s TV2. “On the other hand, I would like to encourage everyone to respect that the Greenlanders are a people. They are a population. It is their country that is at stake here.”

Greenland Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede responded sharply on Tuesday.

“Let me repeat – Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland. Our future and fight for independence is our business,” he stated on Fb.

“While others, including Danes and Americans, are entitled to their opinions, but we should not be caught up in the hysteria and external pressures.”

“The future is ours and ours to shape,” he stated, including that “Every day is spent on working to become independent.”

And in what some view as a rebuke to Trump’s curiosity in buying Greenland, Denmark’s King Frederik X has modified his nation’s coat of arms to characteristic the image of Greenland extra prominently. In saying the brand new design — the primary since 1972 — the Danish Royal Home stated the king wished to create a “contemporary royal coat of arms that both reflects the Realm and takes into account history as well as the heraldic tradition.”

The brand new coat of arms, unveiled Jan. 1, provides Greenland, represented by a polar bear, and the Faroe Islands, represented by a ram, their very own sections, which “strengthens the Realm’s prominence in the royal coat of arms.” Beforehand, the symbols of the Faroe Islands and Greenland, together with three crowns, had been all contained in a single part.

In his New Yr’s speech, the king stated “we are all united.”

“From the Danish minority in South Schleswig — which is even situated outside the Kingdom — and all the way to Greenland. We belong together,” he stated.

NPR’s Scott Neuman, Philip Ewing and Leila Fadel contributed to this report.