Greenland heads for elections while eyeing Trump’s proposed land grab

As Greenland eyes freedom from Denmark's colonial legacy, a new dynamic unfolds. With Donald Trump renewing his controversial interest in the Arctic territory, the world's largest island finds itself in a rare position of leverage. Amid melting ice, rich mineral reserves, and rising geopolitical stakes, Greenland's upcoming elections could reshape its future—independence, economic revival, or deeper ties with global powers?.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here..The seventh BizNews Conference, BNC#7, is to be held in Hermanus from March 11 to 13, 2025. The 2025 BizNews Conference is designed to provide an excellent opportunity for members of the BizNews community to interact directly with the keynote speakers, old (and new) friends from previous BNC events – and to interact with members of the BizNews team. Register for BNC#7 here..By Sanne Wass, Sara Sjolin, Joe Deaux and Christian Wienberg.Donald Trump's obsession with Greenland has put the world's largest island in an unexpected position of power. ___STEADY_PAYWALL___.While Trump's 2019 bid for the Arctic territory was dismissed as little more than a joke, the president-elect's timing is better this time around — Greenlanders are intensifying their push for independence from Denmark. Within the next three months, they will hold a general election that will take the temperature of that relationship..Greenland is not for sale. But its new position gives it the ability to play the US and Denmark off of each other – a dynamic that might ultimately see it come out on top..Read more: John Smit on Springbok sale; what SA provinces need to conquer Europe.The territory's geopolitical importance is rising as its vast ice sheet melts. Located in the far north between the US and Europe, the island is home to an American military base that monitors space and detects missile threats, and it holds large reserves of gold, diamonds, uranium and rare earth metals used in electronic devices. It is also expected to be a key part of global shipping routes in the coming decades..Greenland's new international prominence is helping drive its independence movement, which has grown alongside resentment toward Denmark. While Copenhagen has controlled Greenland for more than three centuries, Denmark's colonial-era misdeeds have increasingly come to light in recent years. Revelations about Danish doctors forcing birth control on teenage girls in Greenland in the 1960s and 1970s were made public in 2022, while Greenlanders still report facing racial discrimination from Danes..The forthcoming election offers Greenland an opportunity to reevaluate these ties, with independence likely to be in focus. Under the territory's current governance structure, adopted in 2009, Greenland controls domestic issues including education, health care and the judiciary, while ceding matters of foreign, monetary, security and constitutional policy to Denmark. Premier Mute B. Egede, who is running for reelection, urged Greenland to remove "the shackles of the colonial era" in a speech on New Year's day, expressing a widely held view on the island..This hasn't been lost on the US president-elect.."Trump is absolutely capitalizing on Greenland's push for independence," said Jacob Kaarsbo, independent foreign security adviser and former chief analyst at the Danish Defence Intelligence Service. "I can easily see a scenario where Greenland moves away from Denmark after the upcoming elections.".The biggest obstacle to the territory's independence is an economic one. Today, Greenland receives about $600 million a year from Copenhagen to pay for, among other things, its health care and education systems, both of which are free for citizens. As of 2021, the island's entire economy was estimated to be around $2.4 billion. If Greenland were to declare independence, it would need to find new partners to support it economically..Which is where Trump might come in.."If you want to have control over Greenland or have them closer to the US, it must be done by offering them more money than they currently get from Denmark in subsidies," said Peter Viggo Jakobsen, professor at Center of War Studies at University of Southern Denmark and a lecturer at the Royal Danish Defence College.."If Trump can offer the Greenlandic people a better deal, I can easily imagine that a majority of the population will declare independence.".So far, like with many of the president-elect's ideas, there's nothing concrete on the table..One avenue is deepening investment in the island's critical mineral sector, which the US views as crucial to countering Chinese dominance in the global rare earth market. .The Trump transition team has been in discussions with people in the private sector since November about potential business prospects in Greenland, according to a person familiar with the conversations. Rare earths mining projects and a new hydroelectricity facility are among the top projects that have been floated..The previously unreported discussions come after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on Denmark on Tuesday if the European nation doesn't cede control of Greenland. The president-elect's remarks were unexpected, forcing his team to quickly devise a more constructive approach. .Read more: Katzenellenbogen: SA faces a diplomatic dilemma as Mozambique teeters on the brink.Speaking at an event in Copenhagen on Thursday, Egede said Greenland is about to enter "a new future" and needs to be united. ."The Greenlandic people want to be treated equally," he said, "whether it's in Denmark or anywhere else in the world.".Power dynamics already appear to be shifting in Greenland's favor. On Wednesday, just a day after Donald Trump Jr. paid a surprise five-hour visit to the Greenlandic capital of Nuuk, Denmark agreed to help the territory finance a new hydropower project. And last month, as Trump proclaimed his interest in Greenland, the Danish government unveiled new investments to improve Arctic defense..Denmark's King Frederik X also changed the country's royal coat of arms to feature Greenland more prominently, and the government has taken steps to further integrate the territory into the commonwealth union. Greenlandic interpreters have also been brought into the Danish parliament to improve communication during lawmaking and debates. .Denmark is also giving Greenland a bigger say in foreign policy and made it clear that Greenlanders are free to choose their own way. "It is their country," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told local broadcasters this week, "and only Greenland can determine and define Greenland's future.".Should it secede, the most obvious path for Greenland would be to align itself with another state through free association, a political arrangement in which a territory voluntarily enters into a formal partnership with another nation. The Cook and Marshall Islands both have such deals with the US, and if Greenland were to strike something similar, it would be able to act as an independent nation and gain full control over its natural resources while still receiving financial support for public services..So far, Greenland's politicians have been vague about what an independent territory might look like, said Ulrik Pram Gad, a Greenland expert at the Danish Institute for International Studies. If such a move were to eventually happen, it would mean choosing which countries Greenland would rely on, and how.."For once, they need to be more specific about what they mean by independence," Gad said..Read also:.The Economist: Will Mark Zuckerberg's risky Trump gamble pay off?Steenhuisen on his "luxury blue-light SUVs"; championing agriculture; MansfieldDe Beer: The ANC – just a "carcass" celebrating its 113th birthday.© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Greenland heads for elections while eyeing Trump’s proposed land grab

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