Anna Hartz
For over a century, Greenland has been a point of interest for the United States.
Its location in the Arctic made it valuable during the Cold War, and its natural resources have long caught the eye of explorers and policymakers. But the island is not easy to control, and history shows that short-term plans often fail. Today, Greenland faces new pressures from climate change, which makes any aggressive plans even more risky.
A Fundamental Disagreement
President Donald Trump’s insistence that the U.S. will acquire Greenland “whether they like it or not” continues a long, complicated relationship between America and the Arctic’s largest island. On January 14, 2026, officials from the U.S., Denmark, and Greenland met at the White House to discuss Trump’s intentions, reports The Conversation.
The Danish foreign minister said there was a “fundamental disagreement,” but the parties would “continue to talk.” In Congress, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell warned that seizing Greenland would destroy trust with allies for little gain.
American interest in Greenland goes back more than a century. In 1909, explorer Robert Peary claimed to reach the North Pole. Before that, he brought some Greenlanders to New York, promising tools and weapons, but most died of disease. Peary also took huge fragments of the Cape York meteorite, which the local Inuit had used for tools. One piece, Ahnighito, weighed 34 tons and now sits in the American Museum of Natural History.
Thule Air Base
During World War II, Greenland became strategically important. The U.S. built bases to protect the island from Nazi Germany. American soldiers guarded the Ivittuut cryolite mine, crucial for aluminum production. Weather data from Greenland helped the Allies plan operations in Europe.
The Cold War brought bigger projects. Thule Air Base housed bombers, fighters, nuclear missiles, and thousands of soldiers. Camp Century and Project Iceworm pushed the limits with nuclear-powered bases and tunnels under the ice, but the ice shifted and the projects failed. Waste from these bases now lies buried under melting ice.
Today, Greenland faces climate change. Thawing permafrost, landslides, and floods threaten infrastructure. Mining remains limited, with only one small anorthosite operation. Greenland’s real value is its ice sheet, which holds enough water to raise global sea levels 24 feet. Protecting this ice is more important than controlling the island for military or economic gain.
The lessons are clear. Greenland is remote, harsh, and fragile. Short-sighted plans and aggressive claims risk disaster, while the ice that dominates the island has consequences for the whole planet.
Sources: The Conversation
