Trump says ‘massive’ oil, gas and mineral exploration to begin in Greenland

US President Donald Trump said “massive” oil, gas and mineral exploration is set to begin in “our new and beautiful Greenland” early on Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear what exploration or developments the US president was referring to in his post, and Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, rather than a part of the United States.

Trump posted on social media following a campaign event on Tuesday in Wasilla, Alaska, to stump for Republican US Senator Dan Sullivan as he seeks his third term to represent the state in an election against Democratic former US congresswoman Mary Peltola.

Rising energy prices – a direct result of Trump’s war in Iran – are creating serious and sustained financial hardships for America’s working class ahead of the midterm elections next month. Trump’s comments on Wednesday are likely aimed at addressing voters’ concerns before they head to the polls.

But despite Trump’s optimism, resource exploration and extraction in Greenland have stymied companies for decades thanks to the island’s harsh climate, lack of key infrastructure and difficult geology. Previous efforts to extract so-called rare earth minerals, as well as oil and gas, have never progressed beyond the exploratory stage.

Trump’s comments about the Arctic island come less than a month after he signed an agreement with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland to strengthen security in the Arctic and North Atlantic following months of tensions with Nato allies over the US president’s repeated demands to take control of the semi-autonomous Danish territory. It does not grant the US any special exploration rights, but does place some limits on investments by non-Nato countries in strategic sectors.

The deal also paved the way for more US bases in Greenland and eased tensions over Trump’s repeated calls for Greenland to become part of the United States. The agreement would still apply if Greenland eventually chooses independence.

Trump has expressed his desire to acquire Greenland since as long ago as 2019 and, during his second term, issued threats to seize the territory from Denmark, a Nato ally.

Representatives of the leaders of Denmark and Greenland did not immediately return requests for comment on Wednesday.

Greenland has large deposits of the rare earth minerals that are needed to make everything from computers and smartphones to the batteries, solar and wind technologies that will power the transition away from fossil fuels. China currently dominates the world’s supply of these critical minerals and the Trump administration is seeking to break Beijing’s chokehold on them.

The US Geological Survey has also identified major potential offshore deposits of oil and natural gas.

But tapping these resources could be prohibitively difficult: the rare earth minerals are encased in rock, and the offshore oil and natural gas deposits are covered by Arctic ice.

Trump’s social media post also touted Greenland’s strategic location, saying that “from a Security Purpose in the Defense and Offense of both the United States of America, and Europe”, the island is “second to none”.

“Any future attack on the United States will have to come across Greenland, where our Defense will routinely knock down drones, missiles or any other form of weapon not yet even conceived,” he wrote. “It gives us time, location, and sightline, like nowhere else in the World!”

The United States was prominent in Greenland for decades but, since 1945, the US military presence in Greenland has decreased from thousands of soldiers on 17 bases and installations to roughly 200 soldiers on the remote Pituffik Space Base in the northwest. The base supports missile warning, missile defence and space surveillance operations for the US and Nato.

Trump said last month that the US would “immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations”, including “building two very major military bases”.