The TOI correspondent from Washington: US president Trump is moving in on Greenland. After a brief lull that calmed European disquiet over his coveting the resource-rich territory in Denmark’s realm, the MAGA supremo on Monday appointed Louisiana governor Jeff Landry as special envoy to Greenland, reviving a long-standing and controversial effort to bring the Arctic territory under US control.The White House said Landry will serve in a voluntary capacity, tasked with advancing US interests in Greenland and engaging with stakeholders on the island’s future. While Landry has no formal diplomatic background in Arctic affairs and no known personal ties to Denmark, which administers Greenland, his selection reflects political loyalty and subject-matter alignment rather than conventional diplomatic credentials.
Landry has been one of the most outspoken US officials backing Trump’s ambition to acquire Greenland, having publicly endorsed the idea on social media, writing that Trump was “absolutely right” and that Greenland should join the US. Following his appointment, he reiterated that his primary goal is “to make Greenland a part of the US,” signaling a clear ideological commitment to the project.
Trump’s interest in Greenland is driven largely by its natural resources and strategic location.
Greenland is believed to hold significant untapped reserves of oil, natural gas, and rare earth minerals, critical to advanced manufacturing and defence technologies. As governor of Louisiana, one of the largest energy-producing states in the US, Landry has overseen offshore drilling, pipeline development, and the petrochemical sector, exporting energy even to distant India.
Ironically, Louisiana itself (and its surrounding areas) was purchased by the US from France (led by Napoleon Bonaparte) in 1803 for $ 15 million (about 3 cents an acre).
The so-called Louisiana purchase of areas from the Mississippi river west to the Rocky mountains, and from the Gulf of Mexico north to present-day Canada, doubled the size of the United States.Acquiring Greenland, by coercion or cooperation, will add to the US a territory 25 per cent larger than Alaska – which also Washington bought from Russia in 1867 for $ 7.2 million. Disparaged as “Seward’s icebox,” after then secretary of state William Seward, who negotiated the deal, the Alaska purchase later proved extremely valuable due to gold, oil, and strategic importance.
If Greenland is added to the US, it will become the world's second largest country after Russia, pushing Canada, currently the second-largest, to third place.Also read: Greenland standoff: Trump appoints ‘special envoy’; is he edging closer to annexation?Landry holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science, which allies say gives him a technical foundation to navigate the environmentally sensitive Arctic context. In addition, he is an Army veteran and former lawmaker who has framed offshore resources as a matter of national security.
Trump echoed that in announcing the appointment, saying Landry “understands how essential Greenland is to our national security.
”Denmark reacted swiftly, reiterating that Greenland is not for sale and that its future can only be decided by the people of Greenland themselves, while warning that unilateral US actions risk undermining cooperation in the Arctic.The Landry appointment fits a broader pattern in the MAGA supremo’s approach to allies and partners, which has often been marked by blunt rhetoric and unilateral actions.
He has repeatedly criticized Nato allies for insufficient defence spending, at times suggesting the US might not honour collective defence commitments. He also withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement, the Iran nuclear deal, and the World Health Organisation, moves that drew sharp criticism from European capitals.
He publicly clashed with German leaders over the Nord Stream gas pipeline, accused Canada of unfair trade practices while imposing tariffs, and threatened Mexico with economic penalties to secure cooperation on border enforcement.
He has been particularly harsh on India and Brazil. Even as the president upped the ante on Greenland, his administration last week recalled nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial and other senior embassy posts, mostly in Africa and Asia, as it moved to reshape the US diplomatic posture abroad with personnel deemed fully supportive of his “America first” priorities. Most of the envoys are from the so-called “Third world,” including 13 countries in Africa, a continent disdained by Trump.
Diplomats were also recalled from Nepal and Sri Lanka in the Indian subcontinent.