Why does Trump want Greenland to be part of the United States?
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And I say that speaking for President Trump, we want to reinvigorate the security of the people of Greenland because we think it's important to protecting the security of the entire world. So I'm going to go check it out. That's J.D. Vance, the U.S. vice president, talking on Tuesday. And today, Friday, he'll be checking out Greenland, though he won't be seeing much of it. What was meant to be a cultural visit has been scaled right back. In

Instead, J.D. Vance and his wife will only be visiting a remote U.S. military base. And that's because not everyone in Greenland is exactly thrilled about the trip or about what he and President Donald Trump have been saying about their island. Basically, that they wanted to be part of America. And this isn't the first time Trump has had his eye on Greenland. Back in 2019, during his first term, he tried to buy it.

Greenland in Denmark, which controls the island, made one thing very clear. It's not for sale? So in this episode, we're asking, why does President Trump want Greenland to be part of the United States? I'm Hannah Gelbart, and this is What in the World from the BBC World Service. What in the World?

To get to the bottom of this here in the studio with me is Laura Gotze, a BBC journalist. Hello. Hi. So let's start off with the basics. Laura, can you tell us a few facts about Greenland? Sure. So it's the world's largest island, which is not a continent. That's, of course, Australia. It's located in the Arctic. It's the most sparsely populated territory. So it's huge. But only about 56,000 people live there as the vast majority of it is covered in ice.

And it's a self-governing territory of Denmark. So this means that it has its own government, but is part of the Danish kingdom. And Denmark decides things like its foreign policy and gives it huge subsidies.

And Greenland has actually wanted to be independent from Denmark for a really long time and might end up becoming independent through a referendum in the next few years. What is it about Greenland that Donald Trump wants so badly? So he says it's for defense purposes. So if Russia attacked the U.S., it would be much easier to intercept nuclear weapons through Greenland.

Trump is also really interested in the mining potential of Greenland. So as I mentioned, it's covered in ice. And as that ice melts, it's uncovering a lot of rare and very valuable materials that Trump is interested in. I imagine climate change has something to do with that, and it might make less of Greenland be covered by ice in the near future. Let's hear from President Trump now. This was him speaking earlier this month. Hello.

I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland. We strongly support your right to determine your own future. And if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America. We need Greenland for national security and even international security. And we're working with everybody involved to try and get it. And I think we're going to get it.

One way or the other, we're going to get it. One way or another, I think we're going to get it. It sounds almost threatening. How true is that, do you think? How would a potential transfer of Greenland to the US even work? So it wouldn't be straightforward at all. I guess the first step would be that Greenland should become independent of Denmark through a referendum. And this might happen, but again, not for a number of years, five at the very least.

And then after independence, it would have to forge ties and somehow become a part of the US. But this will be unprecedented. So the technicalities that are huge. Otherwise, I mean, I suppose, yes, the US could invade. But the US is a member of NATO, as is Denmark. So what happens if a member of NATO attacks Germany?

another member of NATO. Unclear. NATO, that's the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that was created in 1949. And the idea is that member states, if one of them is attacked, then everyone will defend each other. Let's just say that Trump hasn't really gone into very much detail over how he would do this. A few years ago in 2019, he floated the idea of buying Greenland.

And the Danish prime minister basically told him, I mean, absolutely not. So they never got to the point of discussing how much that would even cost. But I mean, it's so speculative. Yeah.

yeah the detail is not there yet as you've said uh greenland is controlled by denmark it has been for about 300 years do people in greenland want to be independent from denmark they do um in recent years particularly i think there's been a real focus being put on national identity um and and so they had elections recently and i think five out of the six parties that were running um

Basically, we're pushing for independence or we're promising to put a referendum on the cards soon enough. And according to recent polls, almost 80% of Greenlanders actually want independence from Denmark. So it is a popular idea and I do think it will happen. It's just there's a long way ahead. And how have Greenlanders reacted to Trump's comments? Do they want to be part?

of America? Overwhelmingly, no. A survey only a few months ago showed that 85% of them reject the idea of becoming part of the US. They certainly wouldn't want to become independent of Denmark just to end up being ruled by somebody else. So there have been huge protests, well, in relative terms, because it's a small population, but you know, protests in Greenland's capital, Nuuk, outside of the US consulate.

And certainly at a political level as well, Greenland leaders have basically said that Trump's comments have been disrespectful. And the Danish PM, on the other hand, as well, has accused the US of putting unacceptable pressure on Greenland. Let's hear some reaction from Greenlanders now. My name is Morgan Angayo. I'm 26 years old and I'm both Danish and Greenlandic and I live here in illicit Greenland. Here in Greenland, we are incredibly proud of our culture, our land, our people and our flag.

We are on a path towards independence while maintaining a strong and valued partnership with Denmark. The Danish world family is even deeply loved and respected here. And when it comes to Trump, many of us are afraid of him. He sees Greenland as nothing more than a business deal, a way to make money for the US. But enough is enough. Greenland will not be bullied, and we will certainly not be taken over.

Right now, people in both Greenland and Denmark are working hard to boycott American products. In my eyes, the U.S. is no longer a role model. When I think about security, cooperation and a true ally, my trust lies with Greenland, Denmark, the European Union and Canada. Hi, my name is Linda Leopard-Kostjansen. I'm 26 years old.

We don't want to be a part of the U.S. We don't want to be Americans. Greenland's location and natural resources make it valuable geopolitically, but that doesn't justify trading as a piece of real estate. His approach completely disregarded the voices of Greenlanders and our right to shape our own future. Rather than being exploded by foreign powers, we should be...

supported in strengthening our independence economy and global partnership on our own terms. It is important to say that although this appears to be the majority view, there are some people who haven't objected to the idea of a Trump takeover.

Earlier, we mentioned that the US Vice President J.D. Vance is now visiting Greenland. He's there along with his wife. Why is he deciding to do this visit now? I suppose they want to show that US interest in Greenland is not waning. I mean, there's sometimes this idea with Trump that he's got a lot of areas of interest, let's say, and he will sometimes be more focused on one or the other. But he's not doing that.

I suppose a lot of people, both in Greenland and Denmark, were kind of hoping that he would lose interest in Greenland along the way. And I suppose this is him showing that he hasn't.

Now, Vance's visit is a development that came later this week because earlier in the week it was announced that only his wife Usha would be going and that she would be staying for several days and that she would be going as a private citizen and going to various cultural events like this dog sled race that they have that

you know, Greenland's are very attached to. And then it turned out that her husband, the vice president, was also going to go. And now they've reduced their visit to a one-day only visit to the US base, which actually is almost...

some have seen as the US kind of scaling down to make it less controversial and also crucially to expose the advances, to make them less exposed to potential protests. I was going to ask about that. How have Greenlanders reacted to the fact that he's going? Yeah, not well. I think they just do see it as a foreign imposition. They don't really understand how seriously to take Trump's threats. Again, as we said earlier, it's...

is very thin on detail. So I think they're very concerned, but they don't really know how exactly he would even go about it. So I think there probably is quite a lot of nervousness on the island. And when it seemed that Vance was going to go on a longer visit, they, you know, they certainly tried to shut the idea down. And I think they've managed to make them scale it down. Laura, thank you so much for coming into the studio. Thank you.

And that is it for today. You can find all the latest updates on this story and JD Vance and his wife's visit to Greenland on the BBC News website. And if you like this one, do check out our other episodes. We're on all the main podcast platforms and on the BBC World Service YouTube channel, where you can come join us, see us chatting away in the studio. We have got video episodes on all kinds of topics, like why the world buys India's hair for wigs,

and how to spot a TikTok wellness scam. You've been listening to What In The World from the BBC World Service with me, Hannah Gelbott, and we'll see you next time. Bye.