As the U.S. already has near-unrestricted military access to Greenland under a 1951 agreement, there is no national security imperative to own the island, but the Trump administration covets its vast natural resources.
The USGS estimates that the Arctic holds about 22% of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas resource base, with the East Greenland Rift holding the third largest reserves in the Arctic, including 8.9 billion barrels of oil, 86.18 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 8.12 billion barrels of condensate. Greenland is also thought to have large reserves of rare earth elements critical for green technologies, with at least 25 of the 34 minerals deemed as critical by the EU to be found there.
U.S. calls for “ownership of Greenland based on national security grounds appear to be baseless, as the Cold War agreement allows the U.S. to build and maintain as many military bases and airfields as needed, but only one remains in the entire country, Pituffik Space
Base, which is used as par of the U.S. missile defence. An amendment to the agreement in 2004 included the Greenlandic government, requiring the U.S to consult with both Denmark and Greenland – largely as a courtesy – before making any significant changes to its military operations on the island.
U.S. President Trump has also raised the prospect of buying Greenland from Denmark. However, that is impossible as Denmark doesn’t have the right to sell it. That decision could only be made by the people of Greenland who in polls appear to have rejected that notion.