The United States is reportedly expanding its intelligence-gathering efforts focused connected Greenland, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited 2 individuals acquainted pinch nan matter. The move appears to align pinch President Donald Trump’s antecedently expressed liking successful acquiring nan Arctic island, which remains a self-governing territory wrong nan Kingdom of Denmark.
What benignant of accusation is nan US collecting connected Greenland?
According to nan report, a caller directive known arsenic a “collection accent message” was issued by officials nether nan activity of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The directive instructs cardinal intelligence agencies, including nan CIA and NSA, to prioritize accusation related to Greenland’s governmental and economical dynamics.
Specific attraction areas see nan island’s independency movement, nationalist sentiment regarding imaginable U.S. assets extraction, and identifying individuals successful Greenland and Denmark who whitethorn beryllium sympathetic to U.S. objectives.
How are US intelligence officials responding to this?
In consequence to The Wall Street Journal’s report, Gabbard released a connection criticizing what she described arsenic a leak of classified information. The National Intelligence head accused nan publication of undermining U.S. interests by publishing nan alleged intelligence directives.
“The Wall Street Journal should beryllium ashamed of aiding heavy authorities actors who activity to undermine nan President by politicizing and leaking classified information,” Gabbard said. “They are breaking nan rule and undermining our nation’s information and democracy.”
Why does nan US want to get Greenland?
Greenland is considered geopolitically strategic and resource-rich, peculiarly successful rare-earth minerals, lipid and earthy state — resources that person been attributed to Trump’s liking successful nan island. National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt besides said nan president “has been very clear that nan U.S. is concerned astir nan information of Greenland and nan Arctic.”
What happens next?
Trump has publically stated his intentions regarding Greenland connected aggregate occasions. In a joint reside to Congress successful March, nan president said nan U.S. needed to get nan territory for some nationalist and world information reasons, asserting that “one measurement aliases another,” he intends to do so.
Then, successful an interview marking Trump’s first 100 days backmost successful office, NBC News’ Kristen Welker asked nan president if he would norm retired taking Greenland by force. In NBC’s much caller interview, he reiterated his desire to support his options open.
“I don’t norm it out,” nan president said. “I don’t opportunity I’m going to do it, but I don’t norm retired anything. No, not there. We request Greenland very badly. Greenland is simply a very mini magnitude of people, which we’ll return attraction of, and we’ll cherish them, and each of that.”
Trump went connected to opportunity that nan waters astir nan land person seen Russian and Chinese subject vessels “all complete nan place,” and that, while he doubted that nan U.S. would usage subject unit to return nan island, that “It could happen.”