Greenland's Strategic Importance for National Security

Abundantly clear that the issue of Greenland

is not about territorial conquest.

It is abou- about national security.

Now, Greenland has always been important.

It was important during the Second World War, which is why the United States had

to, had to secure it during the Second World

War to prevent the, the, the Nazi

Germany from taking it over and so forth.

It's, it's always played an important role

during the Cold War.

It has more important role today than ever before for two reasons.

Number one is because the Arctic region has now become a he- a le- area of

incredible competition. Multiple countries,

including countries that are not Arctic

countries, that call themselves near Arctic countries

like China, are out there

operating every single day trying to dominate sea lanes, which are important e-

for

global shipping and commerce. But the other is because of space

warfare and because of missile defense.

In order to build the sort of missile defense this country needs to protect

itself,

Greenland is incredibly important for all of North America.

And so the fear was, and the concern has always been,

and we've seen this play out

in other parts of the world, is that countries and potential adversaries

go into a

place and they use investments. They buy a port. They build a port.

They build an airport. They build something

that has a dual use to it.

It looks like an airport. It looks like a seaport.

But it's built in a way that looks like a military base.

And they begin to access land rights and, and possession rights in these places.

And all of a sudden you wake up one day and you realize that you have an adversary

and a pot- and a competitor that's taken control of

the Panama Canal

or taken control of some other critical part of the world.

And so it's always been about national security.

And what we were able to reach is an agreement w- w- with both the, the

kingdom of Norway but also Denmark that allows us now to have the

presence that we need to secure Greenland, secure our national security, and is

good for them as well. Under this agreement,

which exists now in perpetuity,

never will any adversary of the United States have the ability to invest

there without our approval and their approval.

But also, we will have access to building new

military facilities that will

allow us to build the sort of missile defense shield that all of North America

needs. It benefits North America. It benefits Europe. It benefits NATO.

So it's an extre- extre- extremely...

And it didn't cost the American taxpayer a single penny.

An incredible achievement, and I think our allies

are happy with it as well.