How to Make Greenland Our 51st State

Dec 29, 2024

There is a military/geopolitical case to be made for making Greenland part of the United States.[1] But to paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson in Kingsman: The Secret Service, “this ain’t that kind” of essay. Assuming there is the will, the question addressed here is, “What is the way.” I will address two possible means to that end: Manifest Necessity and Imminent Domain.

1. Manifest Necessity

In the early 1750s, settlers in Virginia were running out of land and began moving into the Ohio River Valley. The problem was that the French and various Native American tribes already occupied that land, and the French had built a series of forts to defend it. In 1753 the French were told to leave. Surprisingly, they refused. In 1754 a band of brothers led by—later to be famous— 22-year-old George Washington attacked a company of French soldiers, killing their commander and some of the other soldiers. This sparked the French and Indian War which also led to the first world war (not that one), the Seven Years’ War between France and England, and King George saying, “Who the F#@$% is this colonial George Washington.”[2]

What followed was the expansion of English settlers westward, the subjugation and ethnic cleansing of millions of Native Americans, and their containment in concentration camps euphemistically called reservations.

We also tried to take Canada from the British, but that one failed.

The expansion from coast to coast was called Manifest Destiny, a term my AI tells me was coined in 1845 by journalist John L. O'Sullivan in an article advocating for the annexation of Texas and the Oregon Territory. By that time, Texas was already a republic, having been taken by force from Mexico by Sam Houston and his band of brothers.

So, just taking someone else’s land is actually an American tradition and would clearly be sanctioned by the originalists on the Supreme Court should Denmark seek a preliminary injunction.

Now how would we do it?

Despite its immense size (836,331 square miles) almost all of the population lives along the coast, a third in one city alone, Nuuk. So it won’t be necessary to occupy the whole island. There are no roads connecting the towns and cities, so it will only take a small force of soldiers to isolate them. Not that that would be necessary; the United States already has a significant military presence on Greenland pursuant to the 1951 Defense of Greenland Agreement, which allows the U.S. Military to go anywhere on the island, do anything it wants to the island, and build whatever it needs including the Pituffik Space Base (formally the Thule Air Base).[3]

Denmark would no doubt complain to the United Nations, but Elon Musk and Vic Ramaswamy already plan on defunding the U.N., and the United States has never particularly cared about any of the previous resolutions condemning the U.S. for this action or that. Also, without U.S. funding, the U.N. will probably have to decamp to Brussels anyway (or across the pond to New Jersey).

Here's the BIG question.

If there is no military necessity to occupy Greenland, why do we need to occupy it? Cause it’s got….

Rare Earth.

What is rare earth, you say?

Rare Earth Elements are important components in over 200 products, spanning applications in consumer electronics, electric vehicles, defence systems, and many more. Demand for REEs is expected to rise with a focus on renewable energy, Electric Vehicles, and niche sectors like communications and nuclear energy.[4]

“Important” doesn’t even begin to describe how much American industry needs these elements to compete with China (Musk) or to increase our energy production through nuclear energy (Gates). Indeed, Greenland has the largest rare earth deposit in the world in Tanbreeze, but the mining rights are currently owned by a European company, Critical Metals Corp.[5]

However, Greenland currently has environmental regulations that prevent mining where uranium would also be extracted. Mining for uranium is illegal in Greenland. Also, the EU’s mining agreement with Greenland restricts environmental degradation.[6] These constraints could be swept away once Greenland becomes part of the United States. Since we will now control the infrastructure that Critical Metals Corp. would need to extract rare earth from the Tanbreez deposit, they will understand the need to sell their contract to U.S. mining interests for a “reasonable price.”

2. Just Buy It.

We could buy Greenland from Denmark. There is precedent for that. The Louisiana Purchase was a great deal for America, though Jefferson was criticized for paying so much money to the French. Then there was Seward’s Folly, our purchase of Alaska from Russia. That turned out to be a really great deal. And again, few people at the time realized just how valuable that land would turn out to be.

But this time around, the Danes know how valuable the property is. Right now, they are not interested in selling. But if they change their mind, they might just open it up for auction. China currently has the world’s largest supply of rare earth metals, so it doesn’t need Greenland. But its military significance cannot be underestimated, and China would benefit from keeping Greenland’s rare earth deposits from U.S. industry. We might not win such an auction. And we can’t let China have it. So we might as well just take it now.

3. Who Would Go to Greenland?

Of course, Greenland will need a significantly larger population if it is to become the 51^ststate. If Greenland is to become a major mining center there will need to be people who can mine the metal, build and maintain an infrastructure of highways and railways. With that will come housing, and schools, and hospitals, and Walmart.

Most of Greenland is hostile to human habitation. But Global Warming will change that. In the meantime, the Trump Administration has a problem in search of a solution. It intends to deport tens of millions of illegal aliens and stop the flow of additional aliens into the United States. But Mexico is not going to continue to take off our hands central and South Americans, not to mention its own citizens. Too many. And if Trump goes through with a 25% tariff on goods imported from Mexico, the Mexicans will be in no mood to do anything for the U.S.

We can even reduce our cost of exporting illegal aliens to Greenland. If they are willing to go voluntarily, they can have a path to citizenship after 10 years. After ten years of living in Greenland, and raising a family, and earning a good living, with temperatures now in the 50s year-round, no one is going to want to go to the mainland U.S. with its housing shortages, inflation, and high unemployment.

See, might really does make everything right.

Legally Speaking...

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