Greenland to Trump: Hands off our minerals

 

Greenland to Trump: Hands off our minerals

 

A deal between the U.S. and NATO shouldn’t touch Greenland’s minerals, says minister.

"We cannot begin to trade minerals for sovereignty,” says Greenland's Mineral Resources Minister Naaja Nathanielsen. |

 

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January 23, 2026 6:30 pm CET

By Marianne Gros and Jakob Weizman

https://www.politico.eu/article/greenland-to-trump-hands-off-our-minerals/

 

BRUSSELS — Greenland's mining minister has rejected U.S. attempts to carve up her island's mineral resources, saying no external power should decide the fate of the Arctic territory's vast natural wealth.

 

“Everything is on the table except [our] sovereignty,” Mineral Resources Minister Naaja Nathanielsen told POLITICO in an interview, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte held closed-door talks that the U.S. president claimed included a deal on the island's resources.

 

Nathanielsen challenged their right to do this, saying her country was “not going to accept our future development of our mineral sector to be decided outside Greenland."

 

Trump started the week threatening to impose massive tariffs on EU countries if they didn't hand over Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, to the U.S., but backed down Wednesday after saying he had reached a "framework for a future deal" with Rutte. 

 

But if that deal includes allowing any country other than Greenland to control its minerals, it’s a "no" from Nuuk, the minister said.

 

The Arctic island is home to enough of some kinds of rare earth elements to cater to a quarter of the world’s demand, along with vast amounts of oil, gas, gold and clean energy metals — but has extracted almost none of them.

 

Although the exact details of the framework remain unclear, a European official told POLITICO on Thursday it could include an oversight board to supervise the island’s minerals. 

 

Nathanielsen rejected that possibility. “That would amount to giving up sovereignty, that is our jurisdiction, what happens with our minerals,” she said, suggesting the possibility of resolving the issue over Greenland’s resources through multilateral talks.

 

“I'm not saying there is no deal to be had,” said the Greenlandic politician, adding that the government had “no objections to building up [NATO] capacity in Greenland or monitoring of any kind” and is also open to developing a 2019 mining cooperation agreement with the U.S.

 

“But we cannot begin to trade minerals for sovereignty,” she said. 

 

After meeting Greenland's premier Jens Frederik Nielsen in Nuuk on Friday to talk about the potential Trump deal, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that while the situation remains serious, "we have a path that we are in the process of trying with the Americans."

 

Frederiksen met with Rutte in Brussels earlier Friday to discuss the details of the NATO chief's talks with Trump.

 

Nielsen said Thursday he was still in the dark about the details of the agreement.

 

Allies, not friends

The European Union has gone into a panic mode to build a raw materials supply chain virtually from scratch, as global supply chains for materials vital to clean energy, tech and military equipment become less certain amid fracturing global alliances. Greenland is seen as a potential solution, and the EU signed a strategic partnership with it on minerals in 2023.

 

Nathanielsen thinks that the U.S. has shown more “quickness” in building mineral supply chains due to Trump’s flurry of trade deals with dozens of countries worldwide and aligning national legislation. The EU “has been a bit slower to do that, because it's so much more difficult,” said the minister. 

 

Now, Greenland is cautiously reviewing the risk levels that the U.S. presents after Trump seemed to exclude the possibility of military intervention on the island.

 

“People are still on edge, but we have taken steps down the conflict ladder,” said Nathanielsen. But it’s become clear that, “the U.S. is an ally, not necessarily a friend right now,” she added.

 

This story has been updated.