A Royal Danish Navy vessel patrols near Nuuk, Greenland, in January.Evgeniy Maloletka/The Associated Press
Denmark’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday if the U.S. wished to explore Greenland’s resources, it would have to do so within the framework of the Arctic island’s legislation, adding that last month’s deal between the three parties did not change this.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that “massive oil, gas and mineral exploration” was set to begin on Greenland, a contentious statement on a territory that has resisted his efforts to control it and has banned new drilling for crude.
Trump described the Danish Arctic island, which is run by a semi-autonomous government, as “our new and beautiful Greenland” in a social media post that hailed what he said were U.S. gains from a security deal signed in September.
The Danish foreign ministry said in a statement that “the agreement does not grant investors from the U.S. any preferential treatment compared with investors from other NATO countries, EU countries and NATO partners when it comes to access to natural resources in Greenland.”
The Greenlandic prime minister’s office declined to comment on Trump’s statement, while Greenland’s ministry of mineral resources did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump says oil, gas and mineral exploration in Greenland to begin. It’s not that simple
Greenland has been caught up in a confrontation with Trump, who has been saying since 2019 the U.S. should buy or take the strategically located and mineral-rich island for security reasons. On several occasions, he refused to rule out force.
Along with Denmark, the U.S. and Greenland reached an agreement last month to allow the U.S. to boost its military presence on the island – a deal that had appeared to settle the standoff.
The agreement did not allocate any rights for mining or drilling.
“Massive Oil, Gas, and Mineral Exploration is getting ready to begin,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“There are Experts that are saying that the amount of easily available Oil is far greater than that of almost any land, anywhere in the World,” he added without naming any specific deals or specific development.
Greenland banned uranium mining in its territory along with all future exploration of oil in 2021.
The government has said it is reviewing whether a Texas firm, Greenland Energy, can use permits predating that prohibition.
The company said in August that it had plans to drill for oil in 2027 at an untested basin on Greenland’s east coast, although it lacked its own permit to do so. The previous owner, ARCO, spent heavily on seismic work in the 1970s but never drilled.
Independent Danish security policy adviser Jacob Kaarsbo said Trump’s comments could be seen as a sign that his desire to control Greenland remained unchanged.
“It is extremely dangerous to view this agreement between the Trump administration and Denmark as something that has altered Trump’s intentions,” he said.
The 10-page deal between the U.S., Denmark and Greenland paved the way for two new military bases and Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defence system, while reaffirming Danish sovereignty and Greenlanders’ right to self-determination.
“Any future attack on the United States will have to come across Greenland, where our Defense will routinely knock down drones, missiles, or any other form of weapon not yet even conceived,” Trump said in his post on Wednesday.
“It gives us time, location, and sightline, like nowhere else in the World!” he added.