The news seems to be obsessed with Trump potentially taking Greenland, but I think it's all BS and he isn't going to do anything.

Back in December 2024, Trump was talking about annexing Canada and making it a 51st state, everyone was freaking out about that, and nothing happened in the end.

Trump has annexed a grand total of zero territories in his first 4-year term, and zero in the first year of his second term.

He isn't going to annex Greenland, he isn't going to annex Venezuela (although the U.S. is going to for sure play a big role there, we'll see how that goes), he isn't going to annex Iran.

The last land acquisitions by the United States were in 1947 when the Mariana, Caroline, and Marshall Islands were annexed - they're all independent now, except the Northern Mariana Islands which became a territory in the 1980s. Last two states were Alaska and Hawaii in 1959.

The whole Greenland thing is nonsense, it isn't serious, and it's all a distraction from other misdeeds in his administration, like the Epstein files and the humanitarian disaster ICE is creating.

This seems really confusing no matter what angle I attack it. If the concern truly was national security, then the solution would be military hardware and intelligence infrastructure, something easily doable without direct possession.

A series of 99-year leases for military installations along the coast of Greenland would be something so trivial for a strong traditional NATO ally like Denmark to accept. A country with strong legal institutions and stable government that has always followed international norms and shows no instinct for reneging on or violating deals. China and Russia are both threats to NATO as well so there is a mutual interest anyways.

I don’t buy the “Trump is an idiot” argument. There has to be something going on behind closed doors.

Source - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2026-01-09/trump-on-greenland-we-ll-make-deal-easy-way-or-hard-way-video

President Donald Trump said his administration will take action on Greenland “whether they like it or not.”

“I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way,” Trump said at the White House.

The Trump administration has recently said it is weighing a range of options on Greenland, including utilizing the U.S. military or cutting a deal to purchase it from Denmark.

Denmark has warned that its troops are under standing orders to "shoot first and ask questions later" if Greenland comes under attack, as anxiety grows in Europe over the United States under President Donald Trump openly weighing military action to seize the Arctic territory.

This just broke and it feels like a massive geopolitical shift is being signaled. While the headlines focus on the "purchase" or "military" aspect, as investors, we should be looking at the long-term Arctic play.

Greenland is effectively a massive, untapped vault of rare earth minerals and strategic shipping lanes. If the US moves to "hard way" tactics, we aren't just looking at a headline; we’re looking at a fundamental shift in several sectors.

Trump weighs $10k-$100k payouts to Greenlanders in US takeover bid.

How this affects the market:

• Rare Earth & Mining: If the US secures Greenland, it’s a direct move to break the monopoly on minerals needed for EV batteries and tech. Watch for volatility in the REMX ETF or individual Arctic mining tickers.

• Defense & Infrastructure: "Utilizing the military" usually means massive contracts for logistics, cold-weather tech, and base construction. Names like Lockheed Martin (LMT) and Raytheon (RTX) are the obvious first movers here.

• The Danish Krone (DKK) & EU Stability: Denmark has already signaled they will "shoot first." Any friction with a NATO ally usually triggers a "flight to safety" in the USD, but could put serious pressure on Danish-linked assets like Novo Nordisk (NVO).

Sorry if this isn't the right place to ask this but as a civilian I'm not sure what would be a better sub.

If Trump invades Greenland, it invokes article 5, and we all know that. My question is, seeing as the highest ranking military member of NATO is American, how would he respond to being forced to send troops to fight Americans? Would he resign or act in accordance to his responsibilities?

The reason for it is simple: the U.S. is a democracy. The EU accordingly can threaten the reelection prospects, shifting the power to the other party in the next election. For example, you have districts that are dependent on exports. Threaten to tariff these products, and you've just bribed a U.S. representative. More broadly, a digital tax can be enacted. Finally, Europe holds 2.34 trillion in U.S. treasuries, so depending on the pain threshold of the EU, it may cause the U.S. to go bankrupt.

Thus, the U.S. is fangless and it's just posturing

This is a question which I’ve been grappling with quite a lot recently, especially after Trump’s actions in Venezuela and other recent comments from the White House have lent considerable credibility to Trump’s threats. To be clear, I’m talking about the US using military force to “acquire” Greenland. How do you think the UK should react, and how do you expect things would pan out in reality?

Do you view this talk as a threat to Greenland?

Do you support him talking like this?

Would you support an annexation or Greenland becoming apart of your country when they have said they don’t want this?

Do you believe Trumps claims that it is for National Security or do you think it is to control Greenlands natural resources and develop new shipping lanes?

Do the recent events in Venezuela make you think this is more of a possibility now?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g0zg974v1o.amp

https://www.cp24.com/video/2026/01/05/we-need-greenland-trump-declares/

https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2008312340924567769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2008312340924567769%7Ctwgr%5Ed4eee78de9305dd4407d12c1a54b88b1f6901697%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-37776464853976577126.ampproject.net%2F2510081644000%2Fframe.html

LATEST STATEMENTS FROM WH TODAY:

“US discussing options to acquire Greenland, including use of military, says White House”

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyg1jg8xkmo

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/06/trump-greenland-military-white-house.html