“We need Greenland for national security and even international security,” President Trump said during his first State of the Union of his second term. “One way or the other, we’re going to get it.”

That bold claim set off a new wave of awkward diplomacy, including surprise visits from Donald Trump Jr., and Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha.

Acquiring Greenland is not a new obsession.  Trump floated the idea in his first term. Numerous presidential administrations have floated the idea, at least privately. Even Truman made a secret offer to buy it after World War II, compelled by the island’s  geographical and strategic potential.

With Trump back in office and his allies pushing a revival of Manifest Destiny-style expansionism, the idea is back — and louder.  House Republicans have introduced the Make Greenland Great Again Act, aiming to authorize negotiations to purchase the island.

So what’s really going on here? Why Greenland?

Journalist Adam Federman has reported on the President’s call to buy (or take) the island.  He joins host Esty Dinur to help unpack the long and tangled relationship between the U.S. and Greenland — from Cold War military operations to today’s resource politics — to Greenland’s growing moves toward self-determination.

About the guest: 

Adam Federman is a reporting fellow with Type Investigations. He’s written widely on environmental policy, public lands, and corporate and police spying on environmental activists.  His first book, Fasting and Feasting: The Life of Visionary Food Writer Patience Gray (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2017), was a New York Times Notable Book and a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize in Biography.  Read more at his website, adamfederman.com, or on X.

Photo: Remixed image of a satellite composite image of Greenland, from the NASA Ames Research Center, under public domain license.

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