Greenland’s government and Denmark pushed back on President Donald Trump’s claim that massive U.S.-linked oil, gas and mineral exploration is about to begin, saying activity is limited and any resource projects must follow Greenlandic law.
On Wednesday, Oct. 14, Trump posted that exploration was “getting ready to begin” but named no projects, companies or timetable. Greenland’s deputy mining minister Jørgen Hammeken-Holm told CNN that U.S. companies are active on the island, but the work is nowhere near the scale Trump described and smaller exploration efforts could take years to become operational. He pointed to the challenges of developing projects in Greenland’s remote Arctic terrain, where infrastructure is limited.
Denmark’s Foreign Ministry said the security agreement signed by the United States, Denmark and Greenland in September did not change the rules for accessing natural resources or give U.S. investors preferential treatment. The agreement allows an expanded U.S. military role but grants no mining or drilling rights. Greenland halted new oil exploration in 2021, and its government is reviewing whether a company can rely on older permits.
The officials’ responses underscore that existing exploration activity—and a security pact—is not evidence that large-scale resource development is imminent.