Geologist warns prospect of a mineral bonanza in Greenland is a mirage [View all]
Source: CBS News
Updated on: April 13, 2025 / 7:46 PM EDT
Greenland has likely received more international news attention in the past 90 days than in the previous 90 years. President Trump has been explicit: he wants America to control Greenland, predicting untold riches for the local population. On March 4, the president directly addressed the people of Greenland during a joint session of Congress. "We will make you rich, and together, we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before," Mr. Trump declared.
Although the 57.000 people living in Greenland would no doubt welcome more American investment, their appetite for America taking control of the island, which is currently part of the Kingdom of Denmark, seems limited. A poll from January 2025 shows that only 6% of the predominantly Indigenous Inuit population wants to become American—and this poll was conducted before Mr. Trump refused to rule out using force to acquire Greenland "one way or the other." This statement did not sit well in the capital of Nuuk.
Mr. Trump's claim that the U.S. needs Greenland "for national security and even international security" is being tested. Danish political scientist Ole Wæver tells 60 Minutes that it doesn't add up. "You can only get to that conclusion by kind of messing up everything," he said.
"Throwing in five, six different military security dynamics and then treating them as one mysterious whole. If you break them up and take them one by one, then you will, for each of them, say, 'That would not change by possessing Greenland.' You either have access already, or it's not a real issue, or someone else is doing it. There are none of those questions where it's really about possessing Greenland."
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/geologist-warns-prospect-mineral-bonanza-greenland-mirage-60-minutes/
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