Understanding the U.S. interest in Greenland

March 28, 2025

It’s a season of change: a new year and a new presidential administration; changes in political power throughout the world; climate change; technological changes, and more. The ASHP staff knows that such changes don’t emerge overnight; as we look backward and ahead, we remain committed to making our work as history educators help generate greater understanding of the current historical moment. We have invited each member of our staff to share a document that reflects what has been on their mind as they observe our changing country: documents that present historical context, offer hope and inspiration, or provide evidence to shed light on the present moment. ASHP Executive Director, Annie Valk, fills in some of the history of the U.S. and Greenland. Stay tuned for more documents in the coming weeks both on our website and on our primary source database, Social History for Every Classroom.

Like many people, when President Trump began to talk about the possibility of the U.S. acquiring Greenland, I felt puzzled. What had prompted this apparently unexpected interest? My reaction quickly turned to horror, however, when I realized how Trump’s plans for Greenland fit within a long history of U.S. territorial expansion to further its own military and economic interests. This complicated history links Greenland to other places now in the news, including Guantanamo and Panama.

In the 1860s, following the U.S. purchase of Alaska, Secretary of State William Seward proposed to buy Greenland and the Danish West Indies from Denmark, arguing that it would ensure U.S. economic dominance. Congress opposed Seward’s proposal, although the eventual purchase of the Danish West Indies (now the U.S. Virgin Islands) in 1917 added another piece of the U.S.’s growing empire in the Caribbean. The idea of acquiring Greenland endured throughout the twentieth century, with the U.S. slowly expanding their presence on the island. In 1941, after Germany invaded Denmark and months before the U.S. officially entered WWII, the U.S. established bases on the island to guard against German attacks and provide a stopover for military and commercial transport between the east coast and Europe. Greenland’s natural resources also lured Americans, especially cryolite which was shipped from the Ivigtut mines on Greenland’s southern tip to the U.S. and then processed to make aluminum aircraft that the U.S. supplied the Allies under the terms of the Lend-Lease Act (1941). Greenland’s location also made it ideal for weather and radio stations. The accompanying map, published in U.S. newspapers shortly after the Lend-Lease Act was enacted, showed how the U.S. considered Greenland and other island territories as part of its zone of influence and essential to its strategic interests.  

Following the war, the U.S. secretly built Thule Air Base (renamed Pituffik Space Base in 2023 to recognize the Inuit community that previously lived there). It provided security for NATO members, housing missile warning sensors and operating as a launch point for surveillance flights over the Soviet Union. Today, international corporations are vying to mine Greenlandic uranium, despite a uranium mining ban in place since 2021.

Throughout this history, the U.S. has largely ignored the interests of native Greenlanders, nearly 90% of whom are Inuit. After decades of mistreatment by Denmark, including agreements to forcibly displace Indigenous settlements to facilitate the building of U.S. military installations, most Greenlandic people desire political independence as recent elections proved. As a delegation from the U.S., which includes the Vice President, travels to Greenland this weekend, I will be watching to see if this sovereignty will be respected or if the U.S. will follow historical patterns and expand its territory without regard for the wishes of local populations.