Trump’s Bid for Greenland

from The New York Times I'm Rachel. Abrams this is the. [Music]. daily and I also have a message tonight. for the incredible people of Greenland. in a recent address before Congress. Donald Trump talked once again about his. big Ambitions for Greenland we strongly. support your right to determine your own. future and if you choose we welcome you. into the United States of America we.

need but he ended his message with a. threat I think we're going to get it one. way or the other we're going to get. it today my colleague Jeffrey Gelman on. what Trump wants from Greenland and. whether he may actually get. [Applause]. it it's Tuesday March 11th.

[Music]. so Jeffrey president Trump has. repeatedly said that he wants Greenland. and before we get into whether that is. even possible can you just explain to us. why is the president so interested in. this. place well there's a few reasons the. first reason is its size and its. location mhm Greenland is enormous it's. the largest island in in the world it.

has only 56,000 people but it's this. gigantic. space and it's located in a very. strategic spot along the Arctic Ocean. where shipping lanes are increasingly. important as global warming melts ice. that had blocked those areas for forever. up until now and there's a lot of. interest in controlling that space by. Russia by China by European nations and. by the. US there's also Al vast mineral.

resources on Greenland there are huge. deposits of iron zinc copper Platinum. Rare Earth elements that have become. really important in high-tech Industries. and that's another reason why Trump and. his Circle are really interested in. taking over the island but there's one. big problem Greenland is actually part. of Denmark it's been like that for more. than 300 years the Danes colonized. Greenland in the 1700s Denmark still.

controls its foreign policy its defense. and other important issues even though. Greenland is part of North America that. is so interesting because when Trump. first started talking about Greenland it. just felt I think to me and to a lot of. people random and also kind of. outrageous but what you just laid out. those reasons for why the US might be. interested in Greenland actually sound. quite compelling and strategic.

totally it seemed really random when it. first came up but this isn't the first. time a US president has been interested. in. Greenland the US has seen Greenland as. this important piece of territory for a. long time in the 1860s the US had. purchased Alaska from Russia and. Greenland was seen as the next big piece. of territory to expand America's. Ambitions in the North American. continent it didn't go anywhere and it.

just kind of died it then came up again. in 1910 there was an American plan to. acquire Greenland through a trade of. different Islands but that didn't go. anywhere. either and then in World War II Nazi. Germany took over Denmark as part of its. expansion across Continental Europe and. the United States was really worried. that there could be a Nazi incursion on. Greenland as a stepping stone towards.

the United States and so the US. established these bases all around. Greenland and then after the war America. thinks hey you know it just makes. perfect sense that we take over. Greenland forever and the United States. offered $100 million in gold to Denmark. which had been Shattered by World War II. but the Danes were not interested again. they just did not want to get rid of. this territory.

okay so it sounds like there's also a. long history here of Denmark making it. very clear that Greenland is not for. sale absolutely so after World War II. Denmark decided we need to keep. Greenland and in 1953 they made a. decision to take it from being a colony. to being part of Denmark and what that. meant for greenlanders was that they. were now citizens of Denmark they were. entitled to the same rights to the same.

benefits they were Danish citizens and. that led to more investment more. Development A Closer connection between. Greenland and Denmark so then how does. Greenland end up back in the. international conversation so for. decades it really was not in the. international conversation the Cold War. was happening the US seemed to be happy. with having its military bases on. Greenland both Denmark and the US are. members of NATO.

and so Greenland was seen as a NATO. territory and the American government. did not pursue a serious plan to take it. over until. 2019 that's when Donald Trump during his. first term floats this idea that the US. should buy Greenland from Denmark a. small team is set up to work on this and. there's several meetings between. American officials and danish officials. to discuss this but it's all kept.

secret president Trump has reportedly. raised the possibility that the US might. buy Greenland according to the Wall. Street Journal Trump has discussed the. purchase with varying degrees of. seriousness during his then the Story. begins to leak out NBC News has. confirmed president Trump has talked to. AIDS and members of Congress about. possibly buying Greenland this is a very. good idea in fact we could move one of. the Red Sox spring training camps there.

and it was mostly taken as a joke can we. buy the Mal Dives I desperately need a. vacation the whole bizar story prompted. Conan O'Brien to make the trip over to. Greenland hello I'm here to buy your. country oh hello hello I'm here to buy. your. country like why on Earth would the US. want to buy. [Music]. Greenland returning to Washington the. president confirming it is no joking.

matter so the concept came up and I said. certainly I'd be strategically it's. interesting and then Trump responded. that essentially it's a large real. estate deal a lot of things could be. done it's Hur it could be a great real. estate deal but it wasn't a priority. we're looking at it it's not number one. in the burner and all this culminated in. the Prime Minister Denmark very publicly. announcing that Greenland was not for. sale she even called this whole idea.

absurd all they had to do is say no we'd. rather not do that or we'd rather not. talk about it don't say and Trump seemed. to take real issue with that she's not. talking to me she's talking to the. United States of America you don't talk. to the United States that way at least. unto me but then it just kind of went. away until now until just a few weeks. ago when it came back with a vengeance.

and with all this talk about Greenland. Greenland suddenly in the news I thought. it was important to go there and try to. understand how the people of Greenland. are looking at this enormous. geopolitical. situation and to figure out what do the. greenlanders. want and so I flew to Greenland and I. spent almost two weeks talking to.

different people from different walks of. life and what I found was this. surprising openness to having a closer. relationship with the. [Music]. us we'll be right. [Music]. back so Jeffrey you went to Greenland.

which I think it's fair to say a lot of. Americans have never been to so first. can you just paint a little bit of a. picture of what life is like there I. found Greenland beautiful and very. different from any place i' had ever. been it's really icy and snowy all you. can see is. white White Mountains white snow on the. ground icebergs floating in the ocean. and that ice defines.

life and I went to this one place on the. west coast called ulet which is a town. of about 5,000. people and one morning I went with a. family and we got to a place where there. were all these guys standing around. these holes that they had smashed into. the ground reeling up these lines and. catching lots of. fish and in this little town everything.

revolves around fishing even though it's. like a very difficult environment to. work. in- 20° below 0 C winds. blowing and I met this fisherman named. Frederick he's gutting one fish after. the other throwing the scraps on the. snow and pulling out another fish doing. it again and again yeah.

we talk to everybody in the world and I. just started talking to him and right. off the bat America and Trump is a. headline yeah he tells me there all. these headlines about Greenland in the. US so he's really aware of this. conversation that's going on about the. fate of Greenland what do you want for. Greenland I want um Freedom away from. Denmark yeah Frederick felt that. Greenland should break off from Denmark.

I hope that um Queenland can uh sell. fish to America he tells me that he's. frustrated that Denmark still controls. many aspects of life in. Greenland and one of those is its. fishing industry and he felt that all. this attention that Trump is putting on. Greenland is going to create more. opportunities where they're going to be. able to strike up its own relationships. and trade agreements and that will open. doors for all kinds of bus including the.

fishing bus how many how many people are. in USA 350. million they are. hungry maybe they will uh eat this that. would be good right yeah it's healthy. another person I met that day was. Lyla her family runs a small tourism. business and she took us out across the. ice on her dog.

slits I start my own company. 2021 I want to show tourist dog sleding. ice fishing I want to show it but some. of the disis agency don't use me lla. told me that her business has really. struggled to compete with these bigger. Danish companies that have come to the. island she says they have more resources. and much better connections abroad.

tourists always come to our town because. they want to see the icebergs or the. classers but lately thees companies came. to our town to make money only doing on. the high seasons and so given all that I. asked her did she want to break off from. Denmark do you think Independence would. help Greenland I want to be our country. independ sentence why we know our land.

better we want to make our own rules she. thinks that with Independence there will. be more opportunities for locals like. her and when you heard this news a. couple weeks ago that Trump wanted to. take Greenland what how did you feel if. we are going to be independent of course. we we can cooporate with another. countries right like like uh America. right. do you want to be part of America I.

don't want to be part of America I I. just maybe we can make. deals so Leila sees herself as a. greenlander she said that she's not. European she doesn't want to be American. she feels very strongly about her. greenlandic identity but she did say. that she wanted closer relations with. the US and she felt very confident. that if that happened it would improve.

the lives of. [Music]. greenlanders but not everybody I talked. to was so excited about all this. attention that Trump is putting on. Greenland do you feel Danish or Danish a. little Danish no I'm I met the mayor of. ilet his name is Pelle jeremias and he's. pro-independence just like everybody we. met there the but he's also worried.

thing do you see all this attention with. Trump in the US as an. opportunity uh it's fling me a little. bit what makes you a little scared about. this Trump his attitude is I will have. some soldiers down in the in the Border. I will take Panama back and so we have. been talking about Greenland so many. times so would he do about Greenland and. he's been paying close attention to.

everything that Trump is doing and he. brought up the Panama Canal troops being. sent to the US Mexico border and his. point to me was Trump says one thing it. seems really. outlandish and then he does it or maybe. he doesn't do it and his. capriciousness and. unpredictability is what makes the mayor. nervous I can figure him out because his.

way of thinking is so opposite but. you're thinking you're thinking like. European so some greenlandic so he makes. some decisions that oh this you can't do. that but he do he does and he was asking. me so what do you think Trump is going. to do about Greenland he was pointing. right at me what do you predict don't. know what he's mean I I don't and I just. kind of shrugged and said I really don't. know.

and the mayor shook his head and he. seemed. genuinely upset and said we're a tiny. country he's a. superpower country so what can we do. when he comes what can we do if Trump. comes what can we really. do so Jeffrey you've met a range of. greenlanders some of whom are. enthusiastic about Trump's attention. some of whom are worried about the. attention but they all seem to agree.

that they want independence from Denmark. so can you talk a little bit about why. specifically greenlanders want to break. away from Denmark so much so that even. people like the mayor might wearily be. interested in closer relationships with. the US there's a sense that Denmark. doesn't respect Greenland and that. there's this long Legacy of racism. exploitation. treating greenlanders as second class.

citizens and greenlanders come from a. different culture they're part of this. wider innuit community that lives in the. Arctic Circle in Alaska in Canada and. parts of Russia they have their own. language their own Traditions their own. history of how they survive in this very. hostile environment and I met a number. of people who said that they were. mistreated they were made fun of. that they were called racial.

slurs I also heard a lot about the. colonial Legacy and things that Denmark. had done when Greenland was a colony. they destroyed local Traditions they. outlawed some of the religious practices. that greenlanders had been doing for. centuries and there was this scandal in. the 1960s and70s where Danish doctors. were inserting IUD birth control devices. into greenlandic girls as young as like.

12 in an attempt to keep the population. down and they did this to thousands of. girls without them really understanding. what was being done to them and this was. kept secret until just a few years ago. and when this Scandal broke and the News. spread that all these women in Greenland. had been subject to this it caused a lot. of anger towards Denmark all these. things together that's what brings us to. this moment where just about everybody.

now wants Independence so let's talk. about independence for a minute because. I want to understand what would it. actually take for Greenland to become. independent greenlanders have the right. to call a referendum and declare. independence they only got that right in. 2009 but they haven't done it yet. because there's a lot of big sticky. issues that they have to solve before. they can become their own independent. country like what more than 50% of.

Greenland's budget comes directly from. Denmark hundreds of millions of dollars. each year comes from Denmark to pay for. roads schools Social Services education. just about everything and if they became. independent they' need to fill that hole. one solution many greenlanders say is. developing their mineral industry but. it's been really hard developing this. sector because of the extreme cold.

weather the ice that blocks ports the. fact that there's very few roads on. Greenland and so the mineral trade seems. like a long-term solution but not. necessarily what Greenland would need. right now if it declares independence so. in a perfect world what did the. greenlanders you spoke with see as the. ideal relationship they wanted to have. with the US that's a really good.

question and I talked to a lot of people. about exactly that and what I kept. hearing was talk about a free. association agreement the US has. relationships with a few countries in. the South Pacific where America pays for. many of their expenses and in turn these. countries allow the US to use their. territory for military bases they vote. with the us at the UN they're very loyal. allies of the United States of America.

and several people I met in Greenland. including politicians but also less. political types had the same thought and. they said we should establish a free. association agreement with the us where. we are independent country but we have a. very close relationship with the us so I. can understand why having a strong. relationship with the United States. would benefit Greenland economically but. just looking at how the United States is.

treating its most important allies right. now slapping tariffs on Mexico and. Canada and telling Europe it's basically. on its own to defend Ukraine if I'm a. greenlander aren't I looking at all of. this and kind of feeling like the mayor. you spoke to who's really nervous about. the idea of cozing up to the US right. now yeah a lot of greenlanders feel that. way but even from the ones who are a. little nervous I get the sense of. enjoyment and come up it that finally we.

giving it back to Denmark and already. all the attention that the US has put on. Greenland is helping the greenlanders. extract certain concessions from Denmark. and there are things that they have been. asking for for years like greenlandic. being established as a national identity. being able to export their fish directly. to World Markets these are things that. Denmark resisted for a long long time. and just in the past few months with.

Trump breathing down their neck they. have agreed to make these. concessions so all of what you just said. makes a lot of sense but we're still. talking a lot of theoreticals right now. both in terms of will Greenland become. independent will the US try to take it. over can you just help us kind of put. everything into context here like How. likely do you see any of the major. shifts we've talked about actually. happening. I don't think a US invasion of Greenland.

is very likely but I do think that after. 150 years of trying to take over. Greenland the US is closer today than. it's ever. [Music]. been even if Greenland doesn't become. part of America most people there want. to break off from Denmark and many of. them want a closer relationship with.

America what this means is that the US. is essentially pulling an enormous chunk. of territory away from Europe at a time. when things really couldn't be worse. between the US and Europe it would also. mean that the US establishes a big. foothold in a very strategic area the. Arctic and so this place that no one was. really talking about 5 or 10 years ago.

it could actually turn out to be one of. the more dramatic examples of a new. geopolitical. [Music]. realignment Jeffrey thank you so much my. pleasure on Tuesday greenlanders vote on. a new parliament in what is likely to be. one of the most closely watched. elections that the island has ever had.

different political parties are. presenting their different visions of. the future with some wanting a closer. relationship with the United States and. a quick independence from. [Music]. Denmark we'll be right. back here here's what else you need to. know today Wall Street had its worst day.

of trading this year after president. Trump refused to dismiss the idea that. his aggressive stance on trade could. plunge the us into a recession the S&P. 500 fell 2.7% on Monday as the Canadian. province of Ontario and China began to. implement retaliatory tariffs on farm. products and. energy. and the Trump Administration is trying. to revoke a green card for a recent. Columbia University graduate who helped. lead campus protests against.

Israel the administration is relying on. an obscure statute to try and make the. case that the former student can be. deported since he was involved in Pro. Palestinian protests that the Secretary. of State Marco Rubio says undermined a. US policy of fighting. anti-Semitism the deportation would mark. an escalation of the president's. Crackdown on both immigration and. universities that Trump has argued are. too liberal and it also raises questions. about the White House's attitudes.

towards Free. Speech today's episode was produced by. Jessica Chung and Olivia Nat it was. edited by Maria burn and fact checked by. Susan Lee contains original music by. Diane Wong Alicia beup and Pat mccusker. and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley our. theme music is by Jim brunberg and Ben. lansberg of wonderly. [Music]. that's it for the daily I'm Rachel.

Abrams see you tomorrow. [Music].