On 25th March 2025, US Vice President JD Vance made a surprise announcement that he and his wife, Usha Vance, would visit Greenland on 28th March. The US Second Lady was to attend Greenland’s iconic Vannaata Qimussersu dogsled race. However, the White House announced a change in plan, and now JD Vance and Usha Vance will visit the Pituffik Space Base in the semi-autonomous territory of Denmark on Friday. Vance will receive a briefing on Arctic security issues and engage with US service members.
The Pituffik Space Base, which is operated by the US Space Force’s 821st Space Base Group, is the northernmost installation of the US Department of Defence. The base plays a critical role in missile warning, missile defence, and space surveillance missions.
Taking to X, JD Vance informed about his Greenland visit plans and said in a video message, “I decided that I didn’t want her to have all that fun by herself, so I’m going to join her… I’m going to visit some of our guardians in the Space Force on the northwest coast of Greenland, and also just check out what’s going on with the security there of Greenland.”
Looking forward to visiting Greenland on Friday!🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/p3HslD3hhP
— JD Vance (@JDVance) March 25, 2025
A statement issued by JD Vance’s office highlights the significance of the Greenland visit and tracks the historical context of the Second World War. It recalled that the US had established dozens of military bases there to defend the North Atlantic from Nazis, with additional resources added to counter the then Soviet Union during the Cold War.
“The strategic partnership between the United States and Greenland has long played a vital role in our national and economic security. During World War Two, the United States established over a dozen military bases in Greenland to defend the North Atlantic from Nazi incursion. During the Cold War, additional resources were committed to counter Soviet missile threats,” the statement reads.
Vance further criticized the supposed historical neglect of Greenland by both the United States and by the leaders of Denmark. “In the decades since, inaction from Danish leaders and previous US administrations has allowed adversaries to advance their priorities in Greenland and the Arctic,” while affirming, “President Trump is rightly changing course.”
The US Vice President and the Second Lady are set to visit Greenland, especially at a time of shifting global alliances and President Trump’s open declaration of interest in taking over Greenland, the Panama Canal and even inducting Canada as the US’s 51st state. While Russia and the United States appear to be reaching a common ground in the context of the former’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine, it is pertinent to understand why Greenland matters and how any change in its independence might affect US-Russia’s seemingly improving ties.
Is Trump’s Greenland dream inching closer to becoming reality?
JD Vance’s upcoming visit to Greenland has sparked speculations that the United States is serious in its pursuit of controlling the strategically important island, especially given President Donald Trump’s ambition of bringing Greenland under US control. Even during his first tenure as US President, Trump had shown interest in controlling Greenland, given its strategic and economic potential. In December 2024, Trump expressed his desire to gain control of Greenland. In a post on Truth Social, Trump asserted that it was an “absolute necessity.”
In his post on Truth Social, Trump announced that Ken Howery would serve as the ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark. Howery, who is a co-founder of PayPal and a venture capital fund among other companies, served as ambassador to Sweden during Trump’s first term as President. In the post, Trump further added, “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”
Earlier in March 2025, Trump reiterated his desire to control Greenland during his Congressional speech. This week as well, President Trump told the media, “I think Greenland is going to be something that maybe is in our future.”
Greenland: Nature’s treasury of vast minerals and strategic significance
Greenland, the world’s third largest island, carries immense economic, strategic as well as geopolitical significance owing to its unique location and resources. Since it is positioned between the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, Greenland falls along the key maritime and aerial routes. These routes connect North America with Europe. Given its proximity to the Arctic Circle, it is an important player in the rapidly changing Arctic region where melting ice due to climate change has unlocked both challenges and opportunities.
As ice sheets recede, Greenland’s vast deposits of rare earth minerals, gas, oil and other resources are becoming increasingly more accessible, further adding to the island’s consequences. In addition to the natural resources, Greenland’s location enhances its military significance, especially for missile defense, space surveillance as well as monitoring naval activities in the Arctic and the North Atlantic.
The United States has sustained its presence in Greenland through the Pituffik Space Base, which was formerly called the Thule Air Base. The US has been using this installation for space monitoring, ballistic missile early warning, and defence operations. The Pituffik Space Base signifies Greenland’s role in the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap or simply the GIUK Gap.
Notably, the GIUK gap is a naval chokepoint which was historically used to monitor Soviet and now Russian submarine movements in the Atlantic. Its significance, however, is not confined to being a conventional chokepoint; rather, it is a strategic transit route.
Why US wants to control Greenland?
Until the ice began receding due to climate change, the Arctic historically served as a natural shield for Russia against naval threats; however, as nature takes a different turn undermining Russia’s natural defence, America views this as a great opportunity to take over Greenland and expand its presence over the GIUK gap.
The United States under President Trump has prioritized national security and its desire to reaffirm the country’s global influence. In this direction, Greenland’s unparalleled oversight of the North Atlantic and Arctic could be pivotal for the US to monitor and counter Russian, Chinese and even North Korean activities in the region. In addition, with Greenland under its control, the United States would be able to bolster its dominance in the Arctic shipping routes and help the US project power into the High North.
Another major draw for the United States is Greenland’s untapped natural reserves of rare earth minerals (RREs), which are essential for advanced technologies, defence systems and renewable energy. Greenland has an abundance of neodymium, dysprosium, and other REEs, which are crucial for green technology manufacturing. The Kvanefjeld (or Kuannersuit) in southern Greenland is known for its rare earth oxides and uranium deposits. The Motzfeldt Sø and Kringlerne deposits in the Gardar Province are also rich in rare earth elements.
Thus, securing these diverse resources all in one place would help the US curb its dependence on China, which dominates the global supply of RREs. It must be recalled that in 2024, the United States lobbied with Tanbreez Mining, the Australian mining firm and a RREs deposits developer of Greenland, not to sell a massive RREs project to the potential Chinese buyers. Clearly, the US does not want China and other of its adversaries to set a footing in Greenland.
Countering Russia and China becomes even more paramount for the United States since the former two are expanding their Arctic presence. The US sees Russia’s military buildup and China’s economic ambitions through its Polar Silk Road Initiative as a threat to its interests.
Russian dominance in the Arctic Ocean
It is pertinent to mention that Russia has a fleet of 40 icebreakers, including nuclear icebreakers, deployed in the Arctic. By the year 2019, the Kremlin had established 14 airfields, six military bases, refurbished 16 Soviet-era deep-water ports, and 10 border posts in the Arctic, with its Northern Fleet boasting an estimated 120 ships, including 40 icebreakers.
Interestingly, Russia also controls the Northern Sea Route (NSR), a shipping lane along its Arctic coast. This has over the years become viable for longer periods as the ice sheets continue to recede. Russia sees NSR as a national asset and charges fees for transit and rakes in huge profits from the same. Russia’s Arctic dominance has also helped it circumvent the West’s sanctions after it entered into a full-fledged war with Ukraine. Reports say that in the last three years, the Kremlin has made $800 billion from Arctic resource extraction.
🇷🇺 The Russian Nuclear Icebreaker fleet.
— Spetsnaℤ 007 🇷🇺 (@Alex_Oloyede2) March 28, 2024
Russia currently operates 40 of them ranging from different sizes and capable of breaking ice 3m thick. pic.twitter.com/pP1KQUcq5h
Russia has also allowed China to construct five docks along Russia’s Arctic coastline, further exacerbating the US’s worries. Interestingly, while Russia and China have strengthened their Arctic game, the US lags behind with having just two ocean-going icebreakers.
It is also projected that NSR could surpass the Suez Canal’s economic profits by 25% as it extends its operational season by three to six months by 2100. Similarly, the Russia-controlled Northwest Passage (NWP) may also witness extension of operational season from two to four months, further adding to the vast revenue for the Kremlin.
From modernizing its Arctic military infrastructure, reopening Cold-War-era bases as well as deploying advanced missile systems, submarines and aircraft, Russia has done it all to maintain its dominance in the Arctic region. In fact, in its Northern Fleet, based on the Kola Peninsula, Russia has deployed nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) like the Delfin-class (NATO: Delta IV) and Borei-class submarine as well as facilities to store nuclear warheads.
After years of nonchalance, the United States has finally noticed the disparity in its military presence in the Arctic compared to Russia and China’s robust capabilities, as President Trump in January this year emphasized the ineluctable imperative to float new projects including the deployment of 40 huge ocean icebreakers to match up to the Russian fleet.
It is pertinent to mention that Russia’s approach to aggressively militarize the Arctic goes back to the early 2000s, as what Mikhail Gorbachev described in 1987, a “peace and cooperation” zone, progressed to become a zone of distrust, clashing ambitions and display of military might. In the 2000s, Russia started seeing a NATO presence in the Arctic as a threat to its security and sovereignty, as well as to reclaim its lost superpower glory after the USSR’s collapse.
The Trump administration views Greenland as a solid base in maintaining its edge in the warming Arctic, even if it comes at the cost of facing backlash and straining ties with Denmark, which is both Greenland’s colonial power and a NATO ally.
The status of Greenland
Notably, Greenland has a population of about 57,000. The mineral-rich country was a Danish colony till 1953.
While in recent years, Greenland has obtained internal autonomy from the Kingdom of Denmark through the 2009 Act on Greenland Self-Government and continues to witness a demand for complete independence, the US has its eyes set on the coveted island. Russia, too, has criticized the US’s approach of ensuring its national security at the expense of the interests of other countries, saying that it may “result in further deterioration of the situation in the Arctic.”
Greenland is part of the Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union. It is also covered under NATO’s security guarantees. However, the people of Greenland wish to be an independent nation and don’t want to remain a colony of Denmark.
In January this year, Greenland’s outgoing Prime Minister Múte Egede expressed willingness to hold a conversation with US President Donald Trump, however, he clarified that he has no intention of ceding the Greenlandic territory to the United States of America.
“We don’t want to be Danes. We don’t want to be Americans. We want to be Greenlandic, of course. It’s the Greenlandic people who decide their future. We have a desire for independence, a desire to be the master of our own house…this is something everyone should respect,” Egede said in January this year.
The leaders of Greenland and Denmark have time and again reiterated that Greenland will not be sold to any country, even though the US is intensifying its pursuit.
While the US Vice President’s upcoming Greenland visit has received backing from its MAGA support base which is in favour of US taking over Greenland, Panama Canal and even inducting Canada as a 51st US state, JD Vance is also receiving backlash from many Greenlanders and the Danish people.
It is evident that the US wants to secure trade routes in the Arctic, build a robust icebreaker fleet, without which it can neither effectively operate in nor protect the emerging sea lanes. Besides, the US also wants to counter Russia’s fortified Arctic bases and submarine presence, especially given the concerns over the Kremlin turning the NSR into a full-fledged militarized corridor. Not to forget, with growing distrust toward the Suez Canal due to terrorist attacks and other reasons, NSR has emerged as a key alternative route, which many South Asia countries, including India, want to rely more on for sending their goods to Europe.
The concerns about the Sino-Russian bloc controlling Arctic trade and resources while also dominating the region militarily have made the United States desperate to control Greenland, however, VP Vance’s upcoming visit to the island is being seen by many as a power play rather than about cultural exchanges or a normal visit to strengthen ties.
US delegation’s unsolicited Greenland visit irks Greenlander and Danish leadership
This unsolicited visit by the high-profile US delegation to Greenland has irked the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who called it an exertion of “unacceptable pressure” on the mineral-rich island. “I have to say that it is unacceptable pressure being placed on Greenland and Denmark in this situation. And it is pressure that we will resist,” Frederiksen said.
Both the Danish and Greenlandic leaders view the US’s unsolicited visit to Greenland as the Trump administration’s pressure tactics at a time when the government coalition talks are on and municipal elections are to be held in Greenland in the coming days. While President Trump remains adamant about bringing Greenland under US control, the polls show that a majority, 85% of Greenlanders, do not want their homeland to be a part of the United States.
Although it remains to be seen if Greenland, by negotiation or coercion, joins the US or not, if the latter manages to take over the coveted island, the US could expand Pituffik Space Base, build more icebreakers, and expand its dominance in the Arctic routes as well as bolster its global influence. It, however, would come at the cost of straining ties with Denmark and escalating tensions with China and Russia, which would further trigger responses from the Kremlin, including a further militarization of NSR and the GIUK gap alongside deepening ties with China. Besides, if the Greenlanders remain hostile towards the US, it would be a diplomatic stalemate, and the USA’s Arctic strategy would end up becoming weak and nearly ineffective.
The escalation of US-Russia tensions in the Arctic region might lead to global trade disruption and accelerate environmental damage. However, if these countries manage to arrive at a mutually beneficial agreement with keeping Greenland’s interests in account, the new arrangement could also benefit global trade.
Greenland, with its vast tapestry of minerals and other natural resources and strategically significant location, is at the center of this unfolding geopolitical drama. While the Trump administration wants to establish its influence, its outcome depends on how it balances Greenland’s autonomy, Russia’s interests, and the Arctic’s metamorphosis into an international trade and security frontier.
