Trump revives Greenland ambitions with cost study, sparking global tensions and strategic calculations

Trump revives Greenland ambitions with cost study

US President Donald Trump’s long-ridiculed dream of acquiring Greenland is now receiving formal attention from the White House. Staffers at the Office of Management and Budget have begun calculating what it would cost the US government to turn the autonomous Danish territory into a US possession—marking the most serious policy effort yet toward one of Trump’s most audacious territorial ambitions, the Washington Post reported.

From a fantasy to federal planning

According to three people familiar with the process, the Trump administration is analysing the expenses and revenue potentials associated with controlling Greenland. The internal study includes estimates for providing public services to the island’s 58,000 residents and assessing how much the US Treasury could earn from Greenland’s mineral and energy resources.

“We’ll pay you more than Denmark does,” said one official familiar with the offer being modelled, referencing Denmark’s current $600 million annual subsidy to Greenland.

Trump told NBC News over the weekend that he believes the US can “get” Greenland—“100 percent”—and that while military force is not his preferred route, “I don’t take anything off the table.”

Why Greenland? Strategic positioning and ideology

The island holds both symbolic and strategic significance in Trump’s worldview. US officials say the administration sees Greenland as vital to Arctic dominance, military mobility, and mineral extraction.

“President Trump is obsessed with Greenland — because of its national security importance,” said Stephen Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist. “This is the most brilliant naval strategy ever.”

Officials say the island would give the US unparalleled access to Arctic shipping lanes, a forward base to monitor Russian and Chinese activity, and greater geopolitical clout as polar ice melts.

“Greenland is a ‘bonus play,’” said one official, placing it just below Trump’s higher priorities like ending the war in Ukraine, containing Iran, and brokering peace in the Middle East.

Vice President JD Vance’s Greenland visit fuels rhetoric

Vice President JD Vance recently visited Greenland with national security adviser Michael Waltz, where he criticised Denmark’s stewardship of the island. “You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance said. “We can’t ignore the president’s desires—or the Russian and Chinese encroachment.”

Vance’s comments marked the highest-level visit by a US official to Greenland in history and underscored the White House’s escalating push to make the island an American strategic outpost.

Greenland pushes back: ‘We decide our own future’

Greenland’s new Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who won office in part by opposing Trump’s plans, said the people of Greenland will determine their own destiny. “We must not act out of fear,” he wrote on Facebook. “Greenland is ours.”

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is visiting the island this week to affirm Denmark’s commitment, signalling the seriousness with which Copenhagen is taking the renewed American interest.

Economic feasibility questioned

Though Trump and his allies argue that Greenland’s mineral wealth and Arctic real estate could justify a hefty price tag, experts are sceptical. The American Action Forum recently estimated the mineral value at $200 billion—but pegged the island’s strategic worth closer to $3 trillion.

Critics warn the costs could vastly outweigh any benefits. “This is nothing but cover for Trump’s colonial fantasies,” said Alex Jacquez, a former Biden administration official. “Mining deposits under ice in a country that doesn’t want us there doesn’t pass the laugh test.”

Others argue that Trump’s push also reflects a deeper ideological drive to recapture frontier spirit and territorial expansion.

Potential deal mechanics and historic precedent

Staff at the White House budget office are exploring ways to “sweeten the pot” for Greenland, possibly offering more funding than Denmark currently provides. The administration has emphasised the plan would only proceed with the support of Greenland’s residents, though Trump has refused to rule out force.

Historically, US territorial expansion has involved both purchases—like the US Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917—and conquest. Greenland, officials say, would fall under the acquisition model, though the politics remain deeply fraught.

What began as a Trump talking point has evolved into a detailed cost-benefit analysis within the federal government, signalling how far the administration may go to realise its ambitions. Whether or not Greenland becomes the next US territory, Trump’s revived push is already reshaping Arctic politics, testing alliances, and challenging the boundaries of modern American expansionism.