Greenland, the largest island in the world, is known for its natural beauty, its fish industry, abundant natural resources, and strategic location, among other assets. Donald Trump, the former and next President, thinks so highly of Greenland that he wants the U.S. to purchase it. There’s just one problem with his plan: Greenland is not for sale.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede made this clear. “Greenland is ours,” he said. “We are not for sale and will never be.” Most likely, Mute means exactly that, but it’s also possible his comment is a bargaining tactic – a chip in a very high-stakes deal that could open numerous business opportunities and impact the world’s geopolitics.
Trump’s Folly?
In 1867, then Secretary of State William Seward negotiated a deal with Russia that enabled the U.S. to purchase Alaska for $7 million. The deal was widely criticized because most of Alaska is very cold and remote. The land was considered useless, and people called it “Seward’s Folly.”
Fast forward to 1896 and people changed their minds. That was when the Klondike gold rush began and prospectors flocked there. Now fast forward again, this time to 1968, when a world-class oil and gas discovery was made at Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope of Alaska. By this point, Seward was considered a visionary. There are obvious similarities between Alaska and Greenland, and if Trump pulls off this purchase, maybe he will be considered a visionary, too.
Buying Greenland will not be easy. It will take very skilled diplomacy, hard work, and lots of money to purchase it. However, if a deal is made, it could potentially create enormous benefits for America and opportunities for investors.
Buying Greenland would be the largest territorial addition to the U.S. in history. It would far exceed the 591,000 square miles added by President Andrew Johnson’s 1867 purchase of Alaska. And the 836,000 square miles of Greenland would even top the 827,000 square miles the U.S. gained in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase, a deal made between then-President Thomas Jefferson and France.
According to The New York Post, “Trump added steam to his push to acquire the Arctic island when he announced PayPal cofounder Ken Howery as his pick to be the U.S. ambassador to Denmark.”
Trump made his objective very clear when he wrote on his social media platform Truth 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.”
Elbow Room Galore
Despite the huge acreage, surprisingly few people live in Greenland. The population is only 56,000, and most of them are Inuit, an Indigenous people who live in the Arctic, Canada, Greenland, and Denmark.
The U.S. has not added a significant amount of territory in nearly a century, but if it wants more land now, why purchase Greenland of all places? Most of it is covered with ice year-round, few businesses are located there, and it has never expressed interest in becoming a part of America. So Trump’s plan is audacious, to say the least. But, even so, a closer look at the details suggests its brilliance.
As The Post points out, “It abuts North Atlantic shipping lanes and the U.S military has a very important base there and weather installations.” According to Wikipedia, “it’s the most strategic location in the Arctic and perhaps the world.” And the U.S. Geological Survey says its waters may contain 110 billion barrels of oil.
Miners and many other companies are drooling at the opportunity to explore the island and to start and expand businesses. According to AI Overview, there are at least two major deposits of rare earth minerals, one of which may have one of the world’s largest undeveloped deposits of rare earth elements -- substances that are crucial for many clean energy products. This explains China’s interest in the island.
Platinum, gold, uranium, diamonds, rubies, and numerous other metals and minerals either already have been found or show significant potential for being discovered there. So Greenland could be a dream come true for miners, investors and many companies, as well as consumers and investors.
Thinking Big
The first time Trump expressed interest in purchasing Greenland was in 2019, but back then, both Danish (Denmark has controlled the island for centuries) and Greenlandic officials gave the idea a thumbs down. Despite their positions, Trump was not discouraged. And he instructed both the White House and the Treasury Department to study what diplomacy and financing would be needed to proceed with this purchase. According to The Post, even more detailed plans were made then.
The Post quotes former Treasury Department official Thomas Dans as saying, “We were moving quickly on these things up until the final days (of Trump’s first administration). Our hope was that the Biden Administration would pick up on this. We were poised to do something.” Nothing came of those plans, but some important lessons were learned and Trump is anxious to move forward with them now.
Greenland has been the focus of a great deal of attention since Trump revived this idea, but it’s not the only piece of real estate he wants to buy. In early January, he also said the U.S. should have control over the Panama Canal, a strategic waterway the U.S. gave (technically sold for $1) to Panama in 1979 by then-President Jimmy Carter.
Although America engineered, built, and paid for the canal, Panama charges the U.S. higher fees for using it than it does for any other country. Trump also hopes to thwart the possibility of China gaining control of the canal in the future. When asked if he could assure the world that the U.S. would not use military or economic coercion to take control of those areas, Trump refused to rule that out, though no one really expects that to happen. As one would guess, Panama said it opposes the U.S. seizing control of the canal.
By the way, Trump also expressed interest in Canada becoming America’s 51st state, which is even more of a longshot. Canada quickly rejected this idea. Then again, Canadians may not be so opposed to this after they’ve had a chance to think this through.
Considering that these ideas have been generated by someone who knows a thing or two about “the art of the deal,” don’t be surprised if these become a reality. Anyone have an idea as to how to redesign a new flag of 51 states?
Sources: AI Overview; cfr.org; nypost.com; vcsproductions.com; YouTube: Why Trump Wants The Panama Canal, Greenland And Canada
Gerald Harris is a financial and feature writer. Gerald can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.