Trump says major oil, gas and mineral exploration is about to begin in Greenland

Mixed · 2US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday 14 October 2026, in a Truth Social post, that "Massive Oil, Gas, and Mineral Exploration is getting ready to begin in our new and beautiful Greenland!" 1 2 Mixed · 2He gave no details about the planned exploration or the estimates behind it, saying only that experts say the amount of easily available oil is far greater than in almost any land in the world. 1 2 Mixed · 2Trump also stressed Greenland's strategic value, saying any future attack on the US would have to come across the island, where US defences would "routinely knock down drones, missiles, or any other form of weapon not yet even conceived". 3 1

Right · 1Trump also said Greenland "gives us time, location, and sightline, like nowhere else in the World"; Fox News reported it had asked the White House for comment. 4 Mixed · 2The post follows a security agreement signed about four weeks earlier by the US, Denmark and Greenland that expands the US military presence, including the existing Pituffik Space Base and new sites at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig. 2 3 Mixed · 2The agreement recognises Danish sovereignty and Greenlanders' right to self-determination, and CBS reports it mentions resource extraction and "minerals cooperation" without specifying details. 1 2

Centre · 1Greenland remains a self-governing territory within Denmark, and Anadolu notes it stopped issuing new oil and gas exploration licences in 2021 over environmental and climate concerns, although earlier licences remain valid. 1 Right · 1Fox News adds that some previously issued licences remain valid but drilling needs further government approvals, and that commercially recoverable reserves have not been established. 4 Centre · 1Gulf News, in an AFP-credited piece with added explanatory context, points to the Jameson Land project in eastern Greenland, where UK-registered 80 Mile holds exploration rights and US-listed Greenland Energy has sought to fund drilling, but says nothing confirms this is the project Trump meant; it also says the 2021 halt and permitting mean the post is not evidence that a resource boom has begun. 5

Centre · 1Gulf News also notes a 2023 survey cited by Reuters found 25 of the European Commission's 34 designated critical raw materials occur in Greenland, though deposits are not automatically commercially viable. 5 Centre · 1France 24 says media reports in August of a US oil company's preparatory operations in remote eastern Greenland left locals and authorities uneasy, and that the agreement still faces a second reading in Greenland's parliament, where lawmakers are expected to pass it. 6 Right · 1Fox News says the agreement restricts military installations by non-NATO countries and sets safeguards against threatening foreign investment in sectors including natural resources, and that Greenland controls its mineral resources while Copenhagen handles foreign and defence policy. 4

Centre · 1Hindustan Times dates the Truth Social post to Tuesday, while other outlets say Wednesday, and places it in the context of Trump's 2019 idea of buying Greenland, which Danish and Greenlandic leaders rejected. 7 Mixed · 2Anadolu links the post to global energy prices that remain high more than seven months into the Iran war, while CBS adds that some industry experts think Greenland's minerals are lightly explored and until now too costly to extract for private companies. 1 2 Right · 1GB News recalls that Trump's earlier threats to take control of Greenland, which peaked in January, caused a diplomatic crisis within Nato, and quotes a Copenhagen professor who says the crisis is over but the agreement could be used as a platform to force further concessions. 3