Nuuk (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 US needs to control Greenland because of national security concerns, claiming that if the US does not control it, 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 believed to have untapped rare earth minerals and could be a vital player 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 on his first visit to Greenland 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. 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.
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 the Greenland capital Nuuk on Sunday. He was not officially invited and his presence has stirred controversy on the island. 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.
© 2024 AFP
