(AFP) – The US special envoy to Greenland, the Arctic island coveted by President Donald Trump, told AFP on Wednesday that Washington needs to rebuild its presence in the Danish autonomous territory. At the height of the Cold War, Washington had 17 military facilities in Greenland, but closed them over the years and currently has just one — the Pituffik base in the north of the island. Trump has repeatedly argued the United States needs to control Greenland because of national security concerns, claiming that if it does not, the island risks falling into the hands of China or Russia. Greenland is on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the United States. It is also believed to have untapped rare-earth minerals and could be a vital asset as the polar ice melts and new shipping routes emerge.
“I think it’s time for the US to put its footprint back on Greenland,” US envoy Jeff Landry told AFP as he wound up his first visit to the island since his appointment in December 2025. “I think that you’re seeing the president talk about increasing national security operations and repopulating certain bases in Greenland,” he said. “Greenland needs the US,” he added. The United States wants to open three new bases in the south of the territory, according to recent media reports. A 1951 defence pact, updated in 2004, already allows Washington to ramp up troop deployments and military installations on the island provided it informs Denmark and Greenland in advance.
– Independence? – Trump backed down from threats to seize Greenland in January, and a US-Danish-Greenlandic working group was set up to address his concerns. Even if a “master’s” desire to “secure control of Greenland… is completely disrespectful… we are obliged to find a solution”, Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told reporters on the sidelines of a Greenland economic forum on Tuesday. US envoy Landry, who is also the Republican governor of Louisiana, arrived in Greenland’s capital Nuuk on Sunday. He was not officially invited and his presence has stirred controversy on the island. Greenlandic and Danish officials have repeatedly said that only Greenland can decide its future.
Landry met with Nielsen and Greenland’s Foreign Minister Mute Egede on Monday. Nielsen said the talks were “constructive” but noted there was “no sign… that anything has changed” in the US position. In an interview published in Greenlandic daily newspaper Sermitsiaq on Wednesday, Landry fanned Greenland’s dreams of independence. While polls show a majority of Greenlanders are in favour of gaining independence from Denmark someday, the government has no such immediate plans, as many issues remain unresolved — primarily regarding the island’s economy, which is heavily dependent on Denmark.
“I think there are some incredible opportunities that can actually lift Greenlanders from dependency to independence,” Landry said in the interview. “I think that the president of the United States would like to see the country become economically independent. And I think it’s possible here,” he said. Adding to the controversy around Landry’s visit was the fact that he was accompanied by a US doctor, who told Danish television TV2 he was there “to assess the medical needs” in Greenland. Denmark and Greenland in February rejected Trump’s offer to send a naval hospital ship “to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there”. Greenland’s health minister Anna Wangenheim criticised the US doctor’s presence. “Greenlanders are not guinea pigs in a geopolitical project,” she said.
– Aiko Nielsen
© 2024 AFP
