US Energy Chief Downplays Interest in Greenland’s Rare Earths

By Mark Burton

The Trump administration’s primary interest in Greenland is on national security, not the development of its rare earths or energy resources, according to US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

President Donald Trump has long sought to assert control over Greenland, and since his return to the White House his administration has been in talks about developing the country’s untapped mineral deposits. But those efforts are part of a secondary aim to boost economic opportunities for Greenlanders as the US looks to expand military presence on the island, Wright said on Tuesday.

“We’ve got all sorts of places to mine rare earth metals and produce oil and gas,” he said at a conference in Paris hosted by the French Institute of International Relations. “It might make life better for Greenlanders; our interest is national security.”

Trump has made rare earths a focal point in his geopolitical agenda, as Washington looks to challenge China’s dominance as the world’s top supplier of dozens of critical minerals. The materials are key for a wide variety of applications — from smartphones to green technology to defense systems.

Early on in his second term, Trump sought mineral supply deals with Greenland and Ukraine to ease reliance on Chinese exports. But more recently the administration has focused less on mining and more on downstream processing of rare earths, which is widely seen as the key bottleneck in bringing alternative supplies online.

“Rare earth elements is a terrible name because they’re everywhere; they’re not rare at all,” Wright said. “There’s certainly far more attractive places to mine for rare earths.

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