Klaus Dodds explains why US foreign policy under Donald Trump is so focused on Greenland and explores some of the possible outcomes.
Since taking presidential office for the second time in January 2025, Donald Trump has been determined to re-draw the map. His State of the Union address pulled together a vision of greatness aided and abetted by territorial acquisition and place-branding. He is, according to those who have worked with him, fond of maps.
Using a smorgasbord of executive orders, social media posts and direct actions, this has resulted in the Gulf of Mexico being renamed the Gulf of America (alongside restoring Mount McKinley in Alaska), near-neighbours being threatened with annexation and direct action of one form or another against Panama and, most dramatically, Venezuela.