BBC recalls that in recent weeks Trump expressed expansionist intentions on multiple objectives.
The Republican said Canada should become the 51st state of the United States, called the Panama Canal the United States Canal and suggested changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America, while his greatest ambition is for Greenland.
In a press conference on January 7, Trump even said that he could not rule out the use of military force to take control of Greenland or the Panama Canal.
The outlet notes that Trump’s plans for Greenland are not new. It would be a great real estate deal, he said in 2019, during his first term, when he first declared his interest in the island.
But the reality is that it is a strategic location with many valuable minerals, the British publication points out.
Experts bet that this has to do with the recent mapping of Greenland’s mineral wealth and the changing economic dynamics in relation to them.
One of those issues has to do with rare earths, since historically, the territory received attention from US authorities due to its strategic position.
First, that look comes from the way to contain the global advance of the Nazis during World War II. Then, during the Cold War, to control the sea routes between Europe and North America and because of its proximity to the Arctic.
The US military operated the Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base, for decades between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. The base is used as an observation post for ballistic missiles.
But a report published in mid-2023 by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland estimated that the 400,000 square kilometers of the island’s territory currently not covered by ice have moderate to high deposits of 38 minerals on the list of essential materials drawn up by the European Commission (EC).
In addition, there are apparent high concentrations of copper, graphite, niobium, titanium and rhodium, as well as large deposits of so-called rare earths, such as neodymium and praseodymium, whose peculiar magnetic characteristics make them essential in the manufacture of electric vehicle motors and wind turbines.
Greenland could contain up to 25 percent of all rare earth element resources in the world, geologist Adam Simon, a professor at the University of Michigan, told BBC News Brazil. This would be equivalent to around 1.5 million tons of materials.
These elements identify the reality of Trump’s interests, from a long list published by the BBC and which puts a new element of dispute on the international table starting January 20, when the politician assumes power in his country.
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