What This Abandoned Military Base Reveals About Trump's Greenland Ambitions | WSJ

Why It Matters

Greenland’s strategic location and mineral wealth could reshape US‑Russia Arctic competition and influence defense spending and global supply‑chain investments, making its future status a critical policy and business consideration.

Key Takeaways

• Greenland's Arctic location makes it strategic for missile defense.
• US once operated 17 bases, now only one active site.
• Past nuclear weapons storage violated Denmark's non‑nuclear policy.
• Logistics for new bases face extreme weather and high costs.
• Critical mineral deposits add economic incentive to US interest.

Summary

The Wall Street Journal video follows reporter Sune on a rugged trek across Greenland to an abandoned World‑War‑II airfield, using dog sleds and a small boat to illustrate President Trump’s renewed rhetoric about “owning” the island. The piece frames Greenland as a geopolitical flash point, linking Trump’s talk of a “golden dome” missile‑defense shield to the United States’ historic Arctic foothold.

During the Cold War the United States maintained up to 17 installations and 10,000 troops in Greenland, monitoring Soviet submarines and housing secret nuclear weapons—an episode revealed after a 1968 B‑52 crash that spilled four hydrogen bombs. Today only a single base remains, staffed by fewer than 200 soldiers, yet the legacy infrastructure and the island’s proximity to the North Pole still offer strategic value for missile tracking and potential Arctic dominance.

The on‑the‑ground footage highlights eerie relics—rusted barrels dubbed “American flowers,” an old crane, and the skeletal remains of Bluie East Two—while Sune’s guide, seal hunter Justus Utuaq, explains the logistical nightmare of operating in sub‑zero temperatures, limited ports, and treacherous ice. The narrative underscores why Trump’s ambition extends beyond security, eyeing Greenland’s untapped critical‑mineral reserves that could feed global tech supply chains.

The implication is clear: while the United States could technically reactivate dormant sites, doing so would demand massive investment, diplomatic coordination with Denmark, and a willingness to confront Russian Arctic activity. For investors and policymakers, Greenland’s blend of defense relevance and mineral wealth makes it a strategic asset whose future hinges on geopolitical calculations and climate‑driven accessibility.

Original Description

President Trump’s insistence that the U.S. must own Greenland for national security has put the Arctic island at the heart of one of the most serious conflicts between Washington and its trans-Atlantic European allies in decades.

However, a 1951 defense treaty between the U.S., Greenland and Denmark—which controls the island—already allows the American military to build bases and station troops there.

WSJ’s Sune Engel Rasmussen traveled to eastern Greenland, traversing remote icy expanses for days by plane, fishing boat and dogsled, to reach one of the abandoned American military bases from World War II.

Chapters:

0:00 The U.S. pressure campaign on Greenland

1:09 Arriving in Nuuk

2:38 Trust between the U.S. and Greenlanders

4:17 Mapping the journey to BE2 base

4:58 Dogsled ride to boat

6:59 Boat ride to the base

8:32 Making camp near the base and northern lights

9:08 Exploring the base

10:02 Would a U.S. base benefit Greenland?

11:28 What it would take to build a U.S. base

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