Overview
- France’s president publicly accused Washington of neocolonial behavior over Greenland and warned that the United States is distancing itself from allies.
- Trump’s administration has revived interest in securing Greenland, with options discussed including a purchase, a Compact of Free Association with an independent island, or an expanded U.S. military presence, though no formal move has been announced.
- Greenland’s vast resource potential, including significant rare-earth and other critical minerals, and its Arctic location underpin U.S., Russian and Chinese strategic interest.
- Experts note the key bottleneck is processing capacity, with China controlling over 90% of rare-earth separation and refining, and development timelines that could stretch 10–15 years.
- Reports suggest U.S. actors have floated lump-sum payments to residents to encourage separation from Denmark, but those figures remain unconfirmed and speculative.