Denmark has pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s claim that large-scale oil, gas and mineral exploration is about to begin in Greenland, stressing that any resource development must follow the island’s own laws.
The Danish Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that last month’s agreement between Denmark, Greenland and the United States did not change the rules governing extraction.
Danish security policy adviser Jacob Kaarsbo said the comments suggested Trump’s underlying ambitions may not have changed.
“It is extremely dangerous to view this agreement between the Trump administration and Denmark as something that has altered Trump’s intentions,” he said.
Mikkel Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, said the details surrounding mining and exploration rights remained unclear.
For now, Denmark’s message is straightforward: the new security arrangement expands US military access, but it does not override Greenland’s laws on who can extract its resources, or whether extraction can happen at all.
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