Trump's Chaotic Pursuit of Greenland Exposes a Single Rule in His Global Power Grab
From Greenland to Venezuela, and from Iran to Ukraine, Donald Trump has fundamentally shaken the international order during his first year back in office. The world affairs editor Sam Kiley analyses how the 47th President has reshaped global alliances to establish a new world order under three dominant powers, revealing both method and madness in his approach.
The Greenland Gambit: More Than Just Ice and Minerals
Donald Trump publicly signalled his desire to acquire Greenland for the United States even before his formal inauguration. Now, twelve months into his administration, this ice-clad mega-island has become the focal point of a clash between Western civilisations and a potential trade war. What appears as chaotic fetish for another nation's territory actually reveals strategic intent beneath the surface turmoil.
The President has systematically dismantled numerous branches of American democracy while simultaneously advancing Russian interests in ways that often defy conventional logic. His support for Russia over Ukraine has undermined the foundational structures of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, while his national security strategy has incorporated alarming narratives from social media's darkest corners, presenting Europe as facing civilisational erasure.
America First: From Domestic Focus to Global Force
Trump's America First policy has undergone a dramatic transformation from its initial promise of domestic focus and foreign disengagement. The administration has employed military force to remove Venezuela's president, conducted extrajudicial killings of alleged smugglers on the high seas, and launched strikes against Iran - actions many legal experts argue violate international law.
The President has declared his intention to control Venezuela's oil revenues and threatened further attacks if Caracas resists. This might-is-right philosophy mirrors Vladimir Putin's approach toward neighbouring states like Georgia and Ukraine, both of which Russia has invaded with apparent ambitions toward recolonisation.
The Strategic Value of Greenland's Frozen Landscape
Despite his apparent pro-Russian stance, Trump and his administration insist that Greenland must fall under US sovereignty to protect it from Russian and Chinese threats. They highlight Greenland's strategic position for monitoring Arctic sea passages that Russia is aggressively opening with new icebreakers, and its importance for intercepting Russia's shadow fleet of oil tankers that circumvent sanctions to fund the war in Ukraine.
Greenland also hosts critical infrastructure for nuclear submarine operations and served as home to 17 US bases with approximately 15,000 military personnel during the Cold War's peak. While America retains rights to almost unlimited military investment there, Trump seeks outright ownership as climate change reveals mineral wealth beneath the melting ice.
Economic Fallout and Strategic Realignment
Europe, including the United Kingdom, now stands on the brink of a trade and tariffs war with the United States. Ministers are preparing economic countermeasures that could prove costly for both sides, already causing share prices to tumble and gold values to climb. Within this turmoil, Trump reveals his strategic objective: re-establishing unquestioned American dominance over the western hemisphere.
The President's national security strategy explicitly states that "American dominance in the western hemisphere will never be questioned again." This vision perceives Europe as fading and failing, consistent with Trump's long-term view of a world divided into three spheres of influence: America controlling the west, Russia receiving its designated chunk, and China taking the remainder.
Resource Competition and Global Mineral Strategy
Beyond Greenland's strategic location lies Trump's recognition that America has fallen behind in securing essential minerals and rare earths while China has raced ahead. Greenland contains up to 12 percent of the world's reserves of heavy rare earths - minerals with names like dysprosium, terbium, and neodymium that are essential for missile guidance systems, radar technology, jet engines, and advanced magnets.
This mineral focus extends globally. Brazil, Chile, Peru and Venezuela all count China as their main trading partner, with much of this trade involving Chinese investments in mining critical ores. Chile and Argentina hold approximately half the world's lithium reserves, while Peru and Chile contain about 30 percent of global copper supplies. Venezuela possesses what many believe to be the planet's largest oil reserve alongside significant gold, bauxite and iron ore deposits.
African Minerals and Ukrainian Compromises
Trump's resource strategy extends to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where civil war and chaos have driven away many investors but not China, which maintains state-backed strategic investments. The DRC produces about 70 percent of the world's mined cobalt and at least 30 percent of global coltan - essential for computer production. The administration claims to have brought peace to eastern DRC while considering support for government efforts to recapture mineral-rich regions in exchange for resource access.
In Ukraine, Trump's only pro-Ukrainian engagement has involved forging a minerals deal giving the US up to 50 percent of future profits from new mineral extraction investments in return for not abandoning Ukraine entirely. The President views Ukraine as firmly within Russia's sphere, having endorsed Russian claims about President Volodymyr Zelensky's illegitimacy and backed Moscow's annexation of approximately 20 percent of Ukrainian territory.
NATO Tensions and Personal Dynamics
America's NATO allies are attempting to reassure Trump of their commitment to Greenland's defence, sending naval flotillas to its waters as gestures supporting the North Atlantic alliance. However, senior NATO officials warn that Trump fails to recognize how US eastern seaboard security depends on NATO, with the alliance providing forces that collectively double America's military capacity in tanks, artillery, personnel and aircraft.
According to Fiona Hill, former White House adviser on Russia during Trump's first term, the President's relationship with Putin reflects "a man crush" driven by admiration for Putin's authoritarian control. "Trump looks at people who are frankly in charge of everything, who have the kind of, basically, the bling," Hill explains. "Putin realises he is a man with a very fragile ego, and that he's somebody that can be manipulated."
Ultimately, Trump appears determined to construct a world dominated by three men: himself, China's Xi Jinping, and Russia's Vladimir Putin. As Hill observes, "For Trump, that's what really matters, that's the coin of the realm for him" - seeking approval from powerful figures to validate his position on the global stage.
