surged to around 40% on prediction market Kalshi<\/a>, up from about 20% in mid-2025.\n <\/p>\n\n Of course, there are major differences between the situations in Venezuela and Greenland.\n <\/p>\n
\n Not only is Greenland a territory of NATO ally Denmark, but unlike Venezuela it is very much open to business that can operate there, and it has a long history of political stability.\n <\/p>\n
\n For years, if not decades, officials in Greenland have courted foreign direct investment. People in Greenland say they already are open to business opportunities without any belligerence.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI don\u2019t see a need for taking over Greenland. We\u2019re open to investment and working with Americans,\u201d Christian Keldsen, managing director of the Greenland Business Association, told CNN in a phone interview. \u201cWhy would you say something like \u2018take over the country\u2019 when you can get what you want by just behaving?\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Getting US businesses to take a chance on Greenland may be a fantasy, experts say.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIf there was a \u2018pot of gold\u2019 waiting at the end of the rainbow in Greenland, private businesses would have gone there already,\u201d said Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.\n <\/p>\n
\n However, Funk Kirkegaard, who previously worked with the Danish Ministry of Defense, said it\u2019s just \u201cvery difficult\u201d to make a business case for the very large upfront investment that would be required.\n <\/p>\n
\n It\u2019s possible Trump tries to provide financial incentives and guarantees to entice US companies to make those massive investments, similar to the guarantees that Big Oil is seeking to drill aggressively in Venezuela.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIf given enough taxpayer dollars, private business would be willing to do almost anything,\u201d Funk Kirkegaard said. \u201cBut is that a good foundation on which to purchase a territory? The answer is no in Greenland, just as it\u2019s no in Venezuela.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n The climate crisis has caused melting ice and rapidly rising temperatures in the Arctic, leading some to hope for new economic opportunities.\n <\/p>\n
\n However, it\u2019s too early to say this will be enough of a game-changer to overcome the environmental challenges of mining in Greenland. While ice melt has opened up some shipping routes, it has also made the ground less stable to drill and raises the risk of landslides.\n <\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ap22235149598912.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n \u201cClimate change doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s easy. This is not the Mediterranean or your bathtub. There\u2019s just less ice freeze,\u201d said Humpert of The Arctic Institute.\n <\/p>\n
\n Relatedly, Greenland\u2019s stringent environmental regulations would add expense and difficulty to widespread mining.\n <\/p>\n
\n Of course, those regulations reflect the local population\u2019s desire to keep the environment pristine. If the Trump administration somehow made those regulations disappear, it might prove deeply unpopular.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cYou could end up having a hostile local political situation,\u201d Funk Kirkegaard said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Selling Greenland to the United States would likely require a referendum.\n <\/p>\n
\n Yet a poll published in January 2025 found that just 6% favor<\/a> Greenland becoming part of the United States. The overwhelming majority of Greenlanders, 85%, said they do not want that to happen.\n <\/p>\n\n Adam Lajeunesse, chair in Canadian and Arctic policy at St. Francis Xavier University, said the \u201cbizarre rhetoric\u201d about taking over Greenland risks undermining the economic and strategic objectives US officials by harming the relationship with Greenland and Denmark.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cYou could see the United States no longer viewed as a friend and partner but as a bully that should be resisted,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n
\n To some extent, this may already be happening.\n <\/p>\n
\n Keldsen, the Greenland Business Association executive, cautions US officials risk damaging the relationship with the local population.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cAt the moment, everything American is a red flag,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone is wondering, \u2018Am I supporting someone taking over my country?\u2019\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 Greenland\u2019s untapped mineral wealth has helped land the island at the top of President Donald…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-405214","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}