It has been a busy week in terms of news on Greenland.
The week started with Inatsisartut, the Greenlandic parliament, discussing the trilateral defence agreement between Greenland, the US, and Denmark.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump shared a mysterious post on his social media platform Truth Social about Greenland.
And on Wednesday, Trump posted about his plans for oil, gas, and mineral exploration in Greenland, which has led to confused reactions across the Kingdom of Denmark.
A trilateral agreement
In September, after several years of dramatic back-and-forth over Greenland that saw the US openly float annexation of the island, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, an agreement was reached.
The agreement was signed by Trump, Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen of the Democrats (Demokratiit), and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of the Social Democrats (Socialdemokratiet).
It was signed during the United Nations General Assembly in New York City and was also attended by the foreign ministers of the three countries.
The agreement confirmed the 1951 defence agreement which had allowed the US to operate defensively on the island, while recognising Denmark’s territorial sovereignty.
It also gave the US veto rights over countries outside the EU and NATO having any significant presence on the island, updated a framework for US defence expansion on Greenland, and allowed the US to build two new bases.
Questions about the agreement in parliament
The agreement must now be ratified by both the Greenlandic parliament, Inatsisartut, and the Danish parliament.
On Monday, the Greenlandic parliament, Inatsisartut, began debating the law that would see the agreement ratified.
The treaty has not been met with universal acclaim in Greenland. While the three government parties: the Democrats, Inuit Ataqatigiit, and Atassut all support it, the two opposition parties are a bit more mixed in their reaction.
Naleraq, the ardently pro-independence party, was very critical of the agreement, suggesting Greenland should be compensated by the United States for, for example, letting US submarines use Greenlandic waters.
Siumut, the social democratic party, was more positive about the agreement and broadly supports it, though notes concerns around the closedness of the negotiation process.
A drama unfolded when Speaker of Inatsisartut, Kim Kielsen, tried to move the law directly to second treatment rather than following protocols and sending it through the committee stage.
After critique from the opposition, and a government that was not opposed to taking the bill through the committee stage, he backtracked.
It is uncertain how long it will be before the agreement makes its way through Inatsisartut and the treaty is ratified.
Mysterious image on Truth
On Tuesday evening US time, Trump took to Truth Social with an interesting image without any context.
In the edited image, a massive Trump appears to be looking down at a small Greenlandic town, with the text, “Hello Greenland!”
No context was provided for this, but it was quickly picked up in both Danish and Greenlandic media.
Oil, gas, and minerals
Perhaps the Tuesday post was supposed to be a hint at what was to come the following day, when Trump posted an interesting and eyebrow-raising announcement on Truth Social.
He wrote, “Massive Oil, Gas, and Mineral Exploration is getting ready to begin in our new and beautiful Greenland!
“There are Experts that are saying that the amount of easily available Oil is far greater than that of almost any land, anywhere in the World and, even more importantly, from a Security Purpose in the Defense and Offense of both the United States of America, and Europe, is second to none.”
It should be noted though that the new treaty does not give the United States any special new access to Greenlandic oil, gas, or mineral reserves.
There is also no evidence of experts suggesting what Trump cites them for. Greenlandic oil and gas, though prevalent, is considered very difficult to extract due to the difficult climate on the island.
Greenland also has some of the strictest resource extraction laws and policies anywhere in the world, meaning that for Trump to be successful with his stated objectives, he would need to be able to change Greenlandic law.
In Greenland, his post has been met with relatively relaxed views. Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament, the Folketing, Naaja Nathanielsen told DR, “One of the big questions of the midterm elections is the price of fuel in the USA. So I think Trump’s post is aimed more at his domestic market than at us here in the kingdom.”
