New Delhi: Furthering US President-elect Donald Trump’s intention to make Greenland a part of the US, a group of Republicans in the House of Representatives have begun work to draft a bill that would allow negotiations to buy the island nation.
Following his election as the next US President, Trump on multiple occasions has expressed a desire to make Greenland part of the United States and has not ruled out leveraging military or economic power to persuade Denmark to cede control.
The bill is called ‘Make Greenland Great Again Act’.
What is Trump’s Greenland bill all about
If approved, the bill would permit the President to initiate negotiations with Denmark starting on 20 January, the day Donald Trump officially assumes office.
As reported by Reuters, the bill’s draft states: “Congress hereby authorises the President, beginning at 12:01 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on 20 January 2025, to seek to enter into negotiations with the Kingdom of Denmark to secure the acquisition of Greenland by the United States.”
Why Trump wants Greenland?
Greenland’s strategic location and resources offer significant potential benefits to the United States. Positioned along the shortest route between Europe and North America, it plays a key role in the U.S. ballistic missile warning system.
The U.S. has shown interest in bolstering its military presence on the island, including deploying radars to monitor the waters between Greenland, Iceland, and Britain—a crucial passageway for Russian naval vessels and nuclear submarines.
Greenland, with its capital Nuuk located closer to New York than to Copenhagen, holds substantial mineral, oil, and natural gas reserves. However, development has been sluggish, leaving the island’s economy heavily dependent on fishing, which accounts for over 95% of exports. Annual subsidies from Denmark, amounting to nearly $1 billion, cover about half of Greenland’s public budget, equating to approximately $17,500 per resident among its 57,000 inhabitants.
A 2023 survey revealed that Greenland contains 25 of the 34 minerals identified as “critical raw materials” by the European Commission. These include graphite and lithium, essential for batteries, and rare earth elements used in electric vehicles and wind turbines.
