With a landmass three times that of Texas, but with a population—just 57,000—able to fit comfortably inside an NFL stadium, Greenland has long been a forgotten outpost. No more. The world’s largest island is suddenly the belle of the geopolitical ball, with outsized consequences. President Trump offered to buy the territory from the Danish government that controls it. When his overtures were dismissed as absurd, Trump doubled-down and now declines to rule out force, also vowing to acquire Greenland quote “one way or the other.” It makes for strange and scary times for the predominantly indigenous Inuit population. We bundled up and then trundled up to tour a bitingly cold place, in what is suddenly a hot neighborhood.
Who knows for how much longer, but for now Greenland truly might be the last frontier, all snow-dusted mountains and icebergs — blazing blue and sometimes the size of cruise ships — that come lazing down the fjords. Greenland has been part of the Danish kingdom for 300 years, though the capital Nuuk sits closer to New York than it does to Copenhagen. And the towns and villages cling only to the coastline; with no roads connecting them.
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You’re better off cross-country skiing the terrain, as does Maliina Abelsen, a former finance minister and a native Greenlinder. The spotlight cast on her homeland is, she says, overwhelming.
Maliina Abelsen: This is new for us, and we probably have to get used to– to the attention. It’s so much more intense at the moment.
Jon Wertheim: And it’s intense because why specifically?
Maliina Abelsen: It’s intense because the whole world order is changing.
She’s currently chairperson of the largest company in the territory, Royal Greenland, a leader in fishing, an industry that accounts for more than 90% of the territory’s exports. Doing business here, on top of the world, gives a whole new meaning to the phrase weather dependent.
Maliina Abelsen: So when people come to Greenland they can get very frustrated when they say, “Oh, my flight was delayed with five hours.” And I say, “Five hours? That’s not a delay; five weeks is a delay.” So you kind of have to adapt. Because otherwise you are not able to survive here in Greenland.
The territory is lodged between North America and Europe, so massive it encompasses three time zones; yet so sparse that in one of those time zones the listed population is eight. But determined to explore, we headed south from Nuuk by plane. We were prepared for delays, less so the annihilating cold on a boat ride across a fjord. The temperature that balmy morning? Minus-12 Fahrenheit. Our destination: the Plymouth Rock of Greenland.
Greenland was settled by Erik the Red, so named as much for his fiery temper as his fiery beard. Banished from his native Norway, he headed west and ended up right around here, in 982. He was a fearless and fearsome frontiersman. Erik the Red was also a slick marketer and salesman. This vast patch of ice? He named it Greenland in hopes of luring investors, farmers and other settlers. A thousand years later…
Donald Trump (3/4/25): “We will make you rich, and together, we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before..”
A different kind of sales pitch, this to a joint session of Congress last month.
Donald Trump (3/4/25): “And I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland… We strongly support your right to determine your own future.”
Aqqaluk Lynge: We saw your faces at Congress grinning about Greenland.
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Aqqaluk Lynge, an elder Inuit statesman once represented the Arctic population at the United Nations. For him, Trump’s Greenland fixation is more than troubling; it’s offensive.
Aqqaluk Lynge: When he mentioned– Greenland, like it was a toy or– or something.
Jon Wertheim: You noticed that?
Aqqaluk Lynge: We all noticed that in Greenland, all of us. And it was ugly.
When President Trump first made eyes at Greenland in 2019, on the island, it had the effect of fueling a spirit of independence, a reassessment of the relationship with Denmark, which pumps in around $800 million a year, but also, historically, imposed its values on Inuit culture. The coupling of Denmark and Greenland, well, it’s complicated.
Maliina Abelsen: It’s like a forced marriage, if you can say so. At least it was from the Greenlandic side. ‘Cause they– we have never been asked if we wanna be part of the Danish kingdom. Then we have a lover coming into the relationship. And that lover is pointing at one and saying, “Oh, I really, really like your wife there. And that’s when you saw that there was whole dynamic change between Denmark and Greenland.
Jon Wertheim: Should we keep going with that analogy? Are you attracted to the lover?
Maliina Abelsen: I think that some people got a little attracted and they thought, “Ooh, that could be much better. That– lover looks so rich and powerful.” But we have also seen how our Inuit– cousins live in– in– in Alaska, and how they were treated. We definitely do not wanna go down that road.
In the city, such as it is, of Nuuk, (population 20,000) locals turned out last month for a demonstration: a remarkable show of unity for a country so spread out, and, historically, so measured.
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The rally included newly elected Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen: And it’s all clear that we stand together, no matter what– political color you have, we stand together on this issue. Greenland is for Greenlanders, not for anybody else.
The demonstration ended outside an old wooden cottage that serves as the American consulate. Per one recent poll, just 6% of the local population favor U.S. control. The loudest pro-American voice we encountered was an American; the founder of the “Bikers for Trump.”
Chris Cox: My name is Chris Cox. I’m from the United States and I have come here to try to make some friends.
On his own dime and own time, Cox came to Greenland from his home in Charleston, South Carolina, a Trump evangelist on an unofficial mission.
Chris Cox: We are not looking at you like a tiger looks at a gazelle wanting to pounce on you.
Jon Wertheim: What have you learned about this place?
Chris Cox: I’ve learned that it– it’s– it’s a very unique people. They’re a docile people. They’re a peaceful people.
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The U.S. has long been enthralled by Greenland. In the 1860s—the gilded age of empire, when land masses were bought and sold like horses-and-buggies—talk first surfaced of America acquiring the territory.
During the second World War, Americans were given control of Greenland. They built 17 military bases. The most significant, Bluie West One in Narsarsuaq, in the south of the territory, was a crucial stopoff before D-Day.
When the Americans shut the base down in the 50s, they didn’t much clean up after themselves; these drums remain today, but so does a military museum celebrating America’s presence here. On display: images of proud American airmen, some of whom left a literal legacy.
Maliina Abelsen: There’s a strong– long relationship with the Americans. And as– I am one of them– or what can you say, my grandmother had a child with the American soldier from Narsarsuaq — I– I am a product of that relationship.
Jon Wertheim: You’re one quarter American, essentially.
Maliina Abelsen: That’s correct.
After the War, President Truman tried to buy Greenland for $100 million in gold. Denmark declined, but the two countries did sign a 1951 treaty—it still stands today—giving broad license for the U.S. military to operate in Greenland.
Today, Tule, now called Pituffik Space Base, figures critically in U.S. anti-missile defense, and was the site of Vice President Vance’s recent visit — a visit that triggered the firing of the base commander for – in the eyes of the Trump administration – not showing sufficient support for the U.S. agenda there.
The administration maintains that acquiring Greenland is essential for world security. As ice caps melt and the Arctic trade routes and new sea lanes become more important, U.S. control would thwart Russia and China’s access. Trump has derided Denmark for not being up to the job.
But why would the current administration seek to acquire a place where America has always been so welcomed? In Copenhagen, political scientist Ole Wæver, questions the entire premise of Trump’s aggressive stance.
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Ole Wæver: Bottom line is the Americans are militarily on Greenland as much as they want.
Jon Wertheim: So if President Trump said, “We wanna do X in Greenland,” outside of this realm of– of buying, or annexing, or seizing. Just– “We need to put up a base in Greenland–“
Ole Wæver: They wouldn’t get a no.
Jon Wertheim: They wouldn’t get a no?
Ole Wæver: No.
Jon Wertheim: So, what’s going on here?
Ole Wæver: That’s a good question. And everyone is– is scratching their heads in– in– in Copenhagen and– and Nuuk as well.
For all the head scratching, the consequences could be severe.
Ole Wæver: To invade and– and annex a part of another member country then it would be necessary in the next NATO meeting to say by everyone else that this is a violation of everything we know.
Jon Wertheim: This would blow NATO to pieces?
Ole Wæver: It would. It is just a violation that is just one bridge further than anything we have seen so far.
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Wæver also joins the chorus of those worrying that if the U.S. annexes Greenland, it would rewrite the rules for international relations…Ukraine invaded by Russia. Or China potentially taking over Taiwan?….Incursions like these play differently if we’re now in a might-makes-right world.
Apart from geo-strategy, the U.S. does offer another reason for acquiring Greenland. It’s that time-honored justification for empire building: riches, lots of riches.
There are minerals in Greenland. But getting to them, like getting anything and anywhere here, is a mission in itself. We joined Eldur Ólafsson, CEO of Amaroq Minerals, which operates one of the two active mines in Greenland.
Jon Wertheim: I think there are mines in this world that are easier to get to.
Eldur Ólafsson: Certainly, yes.
The Trump inner circle portrays Greenland as a bonanza, a cookie jar of commodities and natural resources: gold, zinc, copper and rare earth minerals, seen as essential for the future world economy.
Mines across Greenland have come and gone over the centuries, largely because of the logistical challenges. But with gold prices at all-time highs, Ólafsson estimates that, with prudent planning and patience, there is $150 million a year to be made from this mine.
Jon Wertheim: So we’re going into the mountain now?
Eldur Ólafsson: Yeah. So we’re going into and up, which is quite rare in today’s mining world.
….Not for the claustrophobic, it’s a bumpy 30-minute ride through sinuous tunnels…
Jon Wertheim: You just haphazardly picked up this shard, but I c– I can see with the naked eye, you can see all the gold there.
Eldur Ólafsson: Yes.
Jon Wertheim: How much gold is in this gold belt?
Eldur Ólafsson: We can’t say for certain, because we would have to drill it all out. This is completely untested. So– dozens of millions of ounces potential, for sure.
Jon Wertheim: Millions of ounces of gold–
Eldur Ólafsson: Mmm.
Jon Wertheim: –here in Greenland, potentially?
Eldur Ólafsson: Yeah.
There may be gold in them, thar hills… but geologists we consulted were deeply skeptical of the promise of any natural resource jackpot in Greenland. Plenty of other countries — America included — have just as many, if not a lot more untapped minerals.
Regardless of who, ultimately, controls Greenland, foreign investment into sectors like mining is — and always has been — welcome…consistent with a catchphrase we heard repeatedly: we are not for sale; but we are open for business. Still, this vast land has been thrown, vastly, off-balance.
Jon Wertheim: Is there any sense that this is just about the ambition to expand and plant a flag and this isn’t about bases and resources?
Maliina Abelsen: Yeah but– that’s what– that’s what concerns me. We’re talking about people who lives here. It’s disrespectful.
Aqqaluk Lynge has a more defiant message still:
Aqqaluk Lynge: If you should try something in the Arctic– you should be very careful. I think– we should say– ice is slippery.
Produced by Michael H. Gavshon. Edited by Daniel J. Glucksman. Field producer: Jakob Illeborg. Associate producer, Elizabeth Germino. Broadcast associate, Mimi Lamarre
