Trump Sounds Alarm Over China's Greenland Rare Earth Grab

President Donald Trump is warning that China is pushing deeper into the Arctic and that Greenland's strategic location and mineral potential could become a key battleground in the U.S.-China rivalry, as The Washington Post reported Friday.

Washington can't let Beijing set the terms for minerals that underpin modern industry and military readiness, Trump allies argue, and Foreign Policy outlined that U.S. officials have pitched Greenland as a "treasure trove" of minerals.

"Greenland sits atop vast reserves of rare earth elements," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in remarks cited by Foreign Policy in the publication's Jan. 9 report.

Pointing to Greenland's "incredible natural resources," Vice President JD Vance made the case for sharper U.S. focus there, according to Foreign Policy, which also quoted Mike Waltz, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., saying, "It's our national security. It's critical minerals."

Inside Trump circles, deeper U.S. involvement in Greenland — through tighter security cooperation, infrastructure access, and support for Western-aligned mining — is increasingly seen as a way to blunt China's rare earth leverage.

The Washington Post reported Friday that Beijing's playbook is to build influence through scientific, commercial, and diplomatic activity rather than any bid to conquer the island.

China has branded itself a "near-Arctic state" as it pushes for a role in Arctic governance and development, the Post reported.

Those ambitions have hit resistance before, with Chinese investment efforts in Greenland previously collapsing after security concerns were raised by Denmark and Greenland.

Beijing's Arctic posture is also increasingly tied to Moscow, and China's partnership with Russia in the region has drawn heightened attention after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Even so, Greenland is not an overnight fix, and Foreign Policy said the island still "may not be the rare earth mother lode" some U.S. officials suggest, a warning that development hurdles could slow any rapid supply shift.

On the ground, some Greenlanders are exhausted by the global attention, and the Financial Times reported Friday that one resident said, "I am just so tired of Trump," even as others see opportunity.

Sovereignty remains a red line. Greenland's leaders have stressed self-rule and rejected ceding control even as major powers circle the island's resources and geography.