Why Trump wants Greenland and what makes it so important for security

U.S. President Donald Trump is fixated on taking control of Greenland, a vast, sparsely populated and mineral-rich island situated between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean.

“It’s so strategic,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One on Sunday. “Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security.”

His comments, which came hot on the heels of an audacious military operation in Venezuela, sounded the alarm across Europe, with Denmark warning that an American takeover of Greenland would mark the end of the NATO military alliance.

The U.S. president, however, is yet to waver. Indeed, the White House ramped up transatlantic tensions even further on Tuesday, saying that Trump and his team are considering “a range of options” to make the self-governing Danish territory a part of the United States — including “utilizing the U.S. Military.”

Positioned between the U.S. and Russia, Greenland has long been viewed as an area of high strategic importance, particularly when it comes to Arctic security.

The territory of nearly 57,000 people is in close proximity to emerging Arctic shipping routes, with the rapid melting of ice creating opportunities to substantially reduce Asia-Europe travel time when compared to the Suez Canal.

Greenland also sits astride the so-called GIUK gap, a naval choke point between Greenland, Iceland and the U.K. that links the Arctic to the Atlantic Ocean.

Alongside its strategic geopolitical position, Greenland is known for an abundance of untapped raw materials, from oil and gas reserves to critical mineral deposits and a treasure trove of rare earth elements.

These critical minerals and rare earth elements are vital components in emerging technologies, such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, energy storage technologies, and national security applications. China repeatedly sought to leverage its near monopoly of rare earths to exert pressure on the U.S. last year.

“Trump is a real estate guy,” Clayton Allen, head of practice at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, told CNBC by video call.

“Greenland is sitting on some of the most valuable real estate in terms of economic advantage and strategic defense for the next three to five decades.”

It is estimated that around 150 U.S. service members are permanently stationed there, down from around 6,000 during the Cold War era.

“For good reasons, the U.S. has an early warning air base in northwestern Greenland because the shortest route for a Russian ballistic missile to reach the continental United States is…