Greenland’s untapped mineral wealth has helped land the island at the top of President Donald Trump’s empire-building wish list.
Trump officials view Greenland’s underground riches as a way to loosen China’s stranglehold over the rare-earth metals that are critical for everything from fighter jets and lasers to electric vehicles and MRI scanners.
“We need Greenland … It’s so strategic right now,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One earlier this month.
“We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not. If we don’t do it the easy way, we’ll do it the hard way,” Trump said Friday at a press conference with oil executives.
Although Trump has recently downplayed Greenland’s natural resources, his former national security adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News in 2024 that the administration’s focus on Greenland was “about critical minerals” and “natural resources.”
MORE:
https://lite.cnn.com/2026/01/12/business/greenland-trump-venezuela-mining