Trump’s push for Greenland mineral rights might be about blocking China

President Donald Trump‘s push for mineral rights in Greenland may be the latest play in long-standing U.S. efforts to block China from accessing rare earths on the world’s largest island.

Trump has disclosed few details about the Greenland framework deal that he announced after meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday. But he told CNBC that it includes mineral rights for the U.S. and other partners, presumably NATO allies though it’s unclear at this stage.

“They’re going to be involved in the Golden Dome, and they’re going to be involved in mineral rights, and so are we,” Trump said in an interview with CNBC’s Joe Kernen at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The Trump administration declined requests for further information when asked by CNBC. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said, “as details are finalized by all parties involved, they will be released accordingly.”

“If this deal goes through, and President Trump is very hopeful it will, the United States will be achieving all of its strategic goals with respect to Greenland, at very little cost, forever,” Kelly said in a statement.

Rare earths are used to make magnets that are key inputs for strategic industries like defense and robotics. China dominates the global supply chain and blocked exports in trade disputes with the U.S. last year.

Beijing declared itself a “near-Arctic state” and regional stakeholder in 2018.

Trump has made developing a Western rare earth supply chain a central objective of his industrial policy as he seeks to reduce U.S. dependence on China. Greenland has the eighth-largest rare earth reserves in the world at 1.5 million metric tons, according to 2024 data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Beijing has a financial interest in the Kvanefjeld mining project in Greenland’s south. It is the third-largest known land deposit of rare earths in the world, according the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

China’s Shenghe Resources is the second-largest investor in Kvanefjeld’s owner, Australia’s Energy Transition Minerals. The project came to a halt after Greenland banned uranium mining in 2021 and it is now mired in litigation.

A framework that provides the U.S. with priority access to Greenland’s rare earths “might ensure that a Chinese partner or somebody else doesn’t come back to the table to develop those resources,” said Ryan Castilloux, founder of Adamas Intelligence, a rare earth market research firm.

A second project called Tanbreez is under development in Greenland’s south by New York City headquartered Critical Metals. The company has described Tanbreez as one of the largest rare earth deposits in the world.

Critical Metals received a letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States earlier this month that could result in a $120 million loan for the development of Tanbreez. The company’s stock rallied about 21% on Thursday and has nearly tripled in value this year.

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