Trump's Greenland Claim: What History Really Says

Donald Trump's renewed interest in purchasing Greenland comes with a historical claim: that the US once "gave back" Greenland to Denmark. But when Nazi Germany occupied Denmark in April 1940, the reality of what happened to Greenland tells a far more nuanced story than Trump's simple narrative suggests.

When War Redrew the Arctic Map

As German forces marched into Denmark, Greenland—then a Danish colony—suddenly found itself cut off from its colonial power and thrust into the center of North Atlantic strategy. The island's 836,000 square miles of territory, sitting astride crucial shipping lanes, couldn't be allowed to fall into Nazi hands.

The US moved quickly, but not through conquest. Working with Henrik Kauffmann, Denmark's ambassador to Washington who defied his occupied government's orders, America negotiated a defense agreement for Greenland. This wasn't a territorial grab—it was a strategic necessity wrapped in legal cooperation.

Henrik Lund Christensen, a professor at the Danish Defence College, notes that "the US took protective custody rather than colonial control." American forces established bases and weather stations, but they did so under the framework of defending Danish sovereignty, not replacing it.

Yet the arrangement wasn't without friction. Local Danish officials sometimes clashed with US military commanders over jurisdiction, and in practical terms, American forces often exercised administrative control in key areas.

The 'Return' That Wasn't Quite a Return

Contrary to Trump's characterization, the post-war transition wasn't a simple handover of territory. When the war ended in 1945, the US did withdraw its forces—but the Cold War quickly complicated any neat resolution.

By 1951, the realities of Soviet expansion led to a new US-Danish defense agreement. This time, America secured permanent rights to operate what's now known as Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Base). The US didn't "give back" Greenland so much as formalize a continued strategic presence with Danish consent.

Denmark's Foreign Ministry recently pushed back against Trump's historical framing, stating that "the characterization of US 'occupation' followed by 'return' misrepresents the cooperative nature of our wartime and post-war relationship."

Today's Arctic Chess Game

Modern Greenland, with its 56,000 residents governing themselves as a Danish autonomous territory, sits at the center of 21st-century great power competition. Climate change has opened new Arctic shipping routes, while the island's rare earth minerals have become crucial for everything from smartphones to wind turbines.

China has invested heavily in Greenland's mining sector, while Russia's Arctic ambitions extend across the entire polar region. For the US, Greenland represents both opportunity and anxiety—a chance to secure critical resources and a need to prevent rivals from gaining Arctic footholds.

But Greenlanders themselves have their own agenda. Prime Minister Múte Egede has made clear that "Greenland is not for sale," while pushing for eventual independence from Denmark. The island's growing self-governance movement complicates any external designs on its territory.

The Bigger Picture: Arctic Sovereignty

Trump's Greenland fixation reflects broader American concerns about Arctic competition. As ice melts and new possibilities emerge, the region has become what some analysts call "the new Middle East"—rich in resources and strategic value, but also prone to conflict.

The European perspective differs markedly. Many Europeans view Trump's territorial ambitions as outdated 19th-century thinking, incompatible with modern concepts of self-determination and international law. Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Denmark's former prime minister, called Trump's purchase idea "absurd."

Yet from a purely strategic standpoint, Greenland's importance is undeniable. Its location provides unparalleled surveillance capabilities over Russian submarine routes, while its mineral wealth could reduce Western dependence on Chinese rare earth supplies.