Op-Ed: Rep. Mike Haridopolos: Take Donald Trump’s Greenland gambit seriously

President Donald Trump has the opportunity to make the deal of the century in the Arctic, Rep. Mike Haridopolos explains. Here's why it's needed.

President Donald Trump made headlines when he introduced the idea that America should acquire Greenland. The result in the media was as expected, with liberal outlets either decrying the idea as imperialist and expansionist, or downplaying it as unserious and pointless. This attitude, however, could not be more wrong. It would be foolish to dismiss the possibility of acquiring Greenland, and there are many good reasons to take President Trump’s idea seriously.

While to many, the Arctic appears simply a rugged, frozen wilderness, this region is already of great importance to America’s national security, and in the coming years, its importance is only going to grow. Greenland’s position in the Arctic Circle and the abundance of critical minerals beneath it make a compelling case for its importance. The top of the world will likely soon become another major point of global competition, and America should make a clear-eyed attempt to pursue our strategic objectives in the Arctic.

While President Trump’s interest in Greenland may strike many as novel, an American presence in Greenland is nothing new. In fact, not only does the United States currently have a military presence in Greenland, we have maintained it continuously since the beginning of the Cold War.

In the early 1950s, the U.S. government realized the immense strategic value of having a base in the far north of the Atlantic and undertook a massive, mostly secret building project to construct Thule Air Base, now known as Pituffik Space Base. In the summer of 1951, 120 ships and 12,000 men departed Virginia for a remote corner of Greenland to begin construction. At that latitude, the sun never sets during summer, allowing construction crews to work around the clock until Thule was completed in 1953.

Throughout the Cold War, Pituffik was crucial to the U.S.’s missile warning systems due to its proximity to the Soviet Union. Had nuclear war ever broken out, the radars and sensors hosted at Pituffik would have been among the first to detect missile launches, and the Arctic skies would have been a critical battleground for intercepting hostile bombers and missiles.

Though the Cold War is over, the brave men and women who work at Pituffik today have jobs no less important than their 20th century predecessors: Units like the 12th Space Warning Squadron, the 23rd Space Operations Squadron, and the 821st Space Base Group maintain modern missile-warning sensors to detect potential ICBM launches, and support the constellations of satellites in the skies above Earth. Pituffik is a key part of the space-based systems that make up the eyes and ears of our military.

For decades, without many of us knowing it, Greenland has already been an important part of America’s national security. The importance of this island is only set to grow in the years ahead.

The past two years have highlighted the importance of trade corridors like the Red Sea and the South China Sea, demonstrating that the security of such passageways is critical to global trade. In the coming years, the waters of the Arctic Ocean are likely to emerge as another one of Earth’s important pathways for trade. Our adversaries clearly see the importance of these waterways, and so should we. Russia and China have both set their sights on the Arctic, and have even stated their intentions to work together to advance their interests in the future Northern Sea routes. Greenland’s position well within the Arctic Circle could provide America with a key strategic point to defend our interests at the top of the world.

Greenland’s importance also comes from what lies beneath it: The island is home to large deposits of rare earth elements, materials that are crucial for the manufacturing of advanced electronic goods like gallium and niobium.

Currently, America’s access to many of these minerals runs through Chinese supply chains, putting our entire technology sector at risk. The drawbacks of our reliance on China for these minerals are already evident. Last year, China banned the export of several critical minerals to America, limiting our access to these materials. Gaining access to the vast mineral wealth beneath Greenland would allow America to reduce our dependence on Chinese supply chains, leveling the playing field in our competition with China. Greenland, due to its small population and economy, is currently not able to take advantage of this vast mineral wealth.

American investment could support the infrastructure necessary to unlock these reserves and responsibly harvest them, securing our access to them for decades to come.

To maintain our dominant position in the world, America must have a proactive Arctic strategy. Maintaining strong missile defense systems, supporting our satellite arrays, defending key trade routes, and having secure access to critical minerals are long-term strategic objectives for the United States, and Greenland could be the key to attaining those objectives.

This is not a conversation that should be approached lightly: The sovereignty of Denmark (a NATO ally), and the rights of the people of Greenland must be respected in this process. The choice here is not simply between granting statehood to Greenland or abandoning our interests in the Arctic altogether; there is a balance to be struck that can allow all parties to benefit by an increased American presence at the top of the world.

There are a wide variety of diplomatic and economic options at America’s disposal to find an arrangement that benefits all parties at the table, and every path should be explored. This conversation calls for creative thinking in the pursuit of a deal, and luckily, on January 20th, an experienced negotiator will enter the White House.

President Trump has the opportunity to make the deal of the century in the Arctic, one that advances America’s strategic goals, prevents our adversaries from gaining the upper hand on us, and benefits Denmark and the people of Greenland.

Though the exact path forward is uncertain, we should approach this opportunity with optimism and determination. It is time for American ingenuity to come to bear to find a solution. This is exactly the kind of conversation that our country should be having right now: America is back to thinking big, and boldly pursuing important objectives to secure our position in the world for decades to come.

Rep. Mike Haridopolos represents Florida’s 8th District in Congress.