US President Donald Trump has framed Greenland as a nationwide safety precedence. Nevertheless, beneath this rhetoric, the push seems carefully linked to the pursuits of the American expertise sector.
Greenland’s huge territory, ample mineral reserves, and small inhabitants make it an interesting gateway to important sources for superior industries. On this context, the prospect of a US takeover is hardly shocking. America’s tech billionaires had been among the many key monetary backers of Trump’s 2024 marketing campaign. Such help not often comes with out expectations.
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Why Greenland Reentered Trump’s Focus
One of many first instances Trump mentioned Greenland was in August 2019, throughout his first presidency. Throughout an interview with reporters, Trump confirmed that he was considering the thought, referring to it as “a large real estate deal.” Nevertheless, on the time, he confirmed that the transfer wouldn’t be a prime precedence.
Quick ahead six years, and Trump’s checklist of priorities has modified.
Trump canceled his go to to Denmark after their Prime Minister stated Greenland wasn’t on the market.
Hoping additionally to keep away from additional face-to-face conferences, Xi Jinping declared Hong Hong “unaffordable” for Trump, and Justin Trudeau declared he’d by no means promote Vancouver Island at any worth.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) August 21, 2019
The occasions which have unfolded over the previous few days shouldn’t come as a shock. Throughout Trump’s 2024 election marketing campaign, Greenland saved popping up. Time and time once more, Trump would check with it as a missed alternative.
Then, roughly a month earlier than taking workplace, he known as American “ownership and control” of Greenland “an absolute necessity.”
This fixation on the island didn’t emerge in a vacuum. Reasonably than being the originator of an thought, Trump seems extra as a political automobile for pre-existing tech ambitions.
Non-public Capital’s Arctic Ambitions
Over the previous decade, a mixture of tech billionaires, enterprise funds, and speculative startups has quietly constructed positions round Greenland.
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Because the group’s ambitions matured, Trump emerged as probably the most keen automobile to translate non-public technological want into state-backed motion.
Greenland’s most vital draw lies in its uncommon earth mineral reserves, that are important to fashionable digital gadgets. Since Trump’s first presidency, figures akin to Invoice Gates, Michael Bloomberg, and Jeff Bezos have proven sustained curiosity within the territory.
In accordance with Forbes, the three billionaires have been investing in KoBold Metals since 2019, shortly after Trump first expressed curiosity in buying Greenland. The investments had been made by Breakthrough Power, a fund led by Gates.
In 2022, OpenAI founder Sam Altman joined as an investor by his enterprise capital agency, Apollo Tasks. Different studies point out that the corporate has additionally attracted backing from Mark Zuckerberg and the hedge fund Andreessen Horowitz.
Past mining, Greenland has additionally attracted curiosity as a testing floor for crypto-native governance and financing fashions.
Peter Thiel, a longtime Trump ally, has backed Praxis. This startup, led by CEO Dryden Brown, goals to ascertain a so-called “network state.”
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I went to Greenland to attempt to purchase it
Right here’s what occurred:
— Dryden (@drydenwtbrown) November 12, 2024
Praxis has publicly explored Greenland as a possible website and raised greater than $525 million to develop a brand new metropolis constructed round lowered regulation and tokenized real-world belongings, positioning the island as a frontier for crypto-enabled city improvement.
With Greenland again within the highlight, extractive and experimental ventures are repositioning themselves for entry.
The truth is, that internet of personal curiosity is now not confined to the sidelines. It now intersects straight with Trump’s governing circle.
Which Traders Have Direct Coverage Affect?
The alignment between Greenland-focused industrial pursuits and Trump’s governing circle extends into the administration itself.
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Sure people with ties to firms positioned to profit from Greenland’s sources now maintain roles that straight affect US coverage.
Howard Lutnick, Trump’s commerce secretary, beforehand led Cantor Fitzgerald, whose related hedge fund has backed Essential Metals Corp, an organization pursuing mineral tasks linked to Greenland.
As reported by The New Republic, the buyers behind this firm have a big overlap with these behind Trump Media. A lot of those self same figures poured lots of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} into Trump’s newest presidential bid.
US diplomatic appointments have additionally mirrored this convergence.
Elitist billionaires Invoice Gates, Peter Thiel, Sam Altman, and Jeff Bezos are focusing on Greenland for a radical experiment, a so known as freedom metropolis modeled as a community state.
The proposal envisions carving out small company run territories, described by critics as a type of… pic.twitter.com/yw83b9gLxI
— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) January 12, 2026
Final month, Trump appointed Ken Howery, a former enterprise capitalist, because the US ambassador to Denmark. Howery is a former PayPal government and longtime affiliate of Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, with whom he labored carefully in the course of the firm’s early years.
As Greenland strikes deeper into Washington’s strategic focus, nationwide safety seems to perform extra as a public rationale than a major driver. As an alternative, momentum appears to be coming from these well-positioned billionaires with clear industrial stakes within the island.
