US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that a large-scale search for oil, gas and minerals is about to begin on what he called "our new and beautiful Greenland." The statement, posted on Truth Social, drew a sharp reaction from a Swedish foreign policy expert, who told Dagens Nyheter that one detail in particular runs against the spirit of an agreement signed less than a month ago.
Trump also claimed that Greenland holds more easily accessible oil than "almost any other country, anywhere in the world," citing experts, according to Dagens Nyheter. He did not name any specific extraction projects.
Why it matters
The remarks land weeks after the United States, Denmark and Greenland signed a new cooperation agreement. That deal allowed for two additional American military bases on the island and stressed Greenland's sovereignty, Dagens Nyheter reports. Resource extraction appeared in the agreement mainly in the context of which states are barred from operating there, such as Russia and China.
The United States has held extensive extraction rights on Greenland for years, so the statement does not necessarily breach the agreement itself, according to Dagens Nyheter. What caught the attention of Jan Hallenberg, an associate senior researcher at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, was something else entirely.
"Our new and beautiful island"
Hallenberg told Dagens Nyheter that Trump's choice of words conflicts with the foundation of the deal from the Danish and Greenlandic side.
"It goes against the spirit of the agreement when Trump says 'our new and beautiful island,'" he said. "That is the foundation of the agreement from the Danish and Greenlandic side. That it is an independent island. It decides its own fate and cooperates to some extent with Denmark."
Danish and Greenlandic responses emphasizing the Nordic island's sovereignty are expected, according to Dagens Nyheter.
A single valid permit
According to Danish broadcaster TV2, cited by Dagens Nyheter, the president can point to only one oil exploration project that could realistically move forward: an older, still-valid permit held by the American company Greenland Energy for a project in eastern Greenland.
Beyond that, the island's sitting governments have rejected various oil and gas licenses for more than five years, TV2's political analyst Ash Rostrup told the broadcaster. The focus instead has been on renewable energy and protecting the natural environment, according to Dagens Nyheter's account of the TV2 reporting.
Hallenberg said he assumes the United States, Denmark and Greenland are already in talks about future extraction, and that any such projects would likely proceed as cooperation among all parties.
"Greenlanders do want investment, they want their oil and metals extracted. The Danes are on board with that too," he told Dagens Nyheter.
Domestic pressure in Washington
In Hallenberg's view, the timing of Trump's post should be read against the upcoming US midterm elections and a run of difficult political setbacks for the president, Dagens Nyheter reports. One example he cites is the heavy criticism Trump faced after the United States entered a new diesel agreement with Russia. Experts have argued that the eased sanctions risk worsening the war in Ukraine.
Raising the prospect of profits from Greenland may be a way for the president to shift attention elsewhere.
"He always wants to describe his actions as prominently and positively as possible, especially in situations where he is politically strained," Hallenberg told Dagens Nyheter.
Watch for official reactions from Copenhagen and Nuuk, and for whether any concrete drilling plan follows the announcement.
