| By AP News Photos: Wikimedia Commons President Donald Trump pushed Greenland into the spotlight by threatening to take it over. That has ignited unprecedented interest in full independence from Denmark — a key issue in a parliamentary election on March 11. Read more. |
| Why this matters: Many in this semi-autonomous territory are worried and offended by Trump’s threats to seize control of their mineral-rich homeland, even by force, because he says the U.S. needs it “for national security.” Greenland is vital to the world, though much of the world may not realize it. Global powers covet its strategic location in the Arctic; its rare earth minerals needed for telecommunications; its billions of barrels of oil; and its potential for shipping and trade routes as ice keeps retreating because of climate change. |
