The argument Donald Trump has used to push for US ownership of Greenland has a major "flaw", according to a political analyst.
While the president's administration are moving to take over the world's largest island, CNN commentator Stephen Collinson has observed a major flaw in one of Trump's leading arguments. Trump has cited the security of the US as a reason to take Greenland into ownership, but the shipping routes and rare earth mineral deposits found on the island will be of interest too, Collinson suggested.
Writing in his column, Collinson argued that, while Trump may feel the US is at risk of a national security incident, nothing is stopping him from using Greenland as he intends to right now.
Collinson wrote, "Eight decades after World War II, Greenland is becoming a hotter spot literally and geopolitically, as melting ice opens new shipping routes on the roof of the world. China and Russia understand just as well as Trump how strategically critical it could be."
"But the flaw in Trump’s argument is that there’s nothing stopping him from reinforcing Greenland if he believes US national security is at risk."
Even if the interest goes beyond security and extends to mineral wealth, as it did in Venezuela where Trump says oil executives will chip in for US control of the country, Collinson says both Danish and Greenland officials would be open to trade.
He continued, "Greenland is also rich in yet-to-be-tapped offshore oil and gas fields, and as its tundra thaws, its rare earth mineral deposits, which could fuel new age technologies and weapons, will become easier to mine."
"If it’s rare earths that Trump cares about, then both Danish and Greenland officials have said they are open to partnership agreements." But there is "no sign" Trump is willing to share the resources, should he want them, with other countries.
Collinson added, "But there’s no sign that Trump — who is coming to resemble 19th-century US presidents who craved new lands, wielded tariffs as weapons and dreamed of matching European empires — is looking to share."
"The US base on Greenland flies the Danish flag as well as the Stars and Stripes. This administration leans more towards the thinking of Miller’s wife, Katie, who posted a social media picture of the entire island covered in the red, white and blue."
