WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that large-scale oil, gas and mineral exploration is about to start in Greenland, linking the Arctic island to U.S. energy and security interests.
On Truth Social he wrote that exploration was nearly underway and that experts say readily available oil there outstrips almost any other land. He also argued Greenland offers unmatched time, location and sightlines to defeat drones, missiles or other weapons aimed at America or Europe.
He named no companies, sites or start date. In 2021 Greenland halted fresh oil-and-gas exploration licenses over climate concerns. Older licenses can still exist, but drilling needs more approvals, and commercially recoverable reserves remain unproven.
The comments came over a month after Washington, Copenhagen and Nuuk sealed a security pact expanding American military access. The deal centers on defense yet also nods to resource extraction and minerals cooperation without naming projects.
It lets the U.S. expand Pituffik Space Base — the northernmost American military site, used for early missile warning — and add bases at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig, roughly 950 miles apart. Non-NATO countries need the parties’ consent for bases.
Greenland runs many domestic matters including minerals; Denmark keeps foreign, defense and security policy. Analysts say Greenland’s minerals are still lightly surveyed and extraction has often been too costly for private firms.
Section: More Detroit MI politics news
