Denmark deployed soldiers to Greenland in January with contingency plans to blow up critical airport runways amid concerns that US President Donald Trump could attempt to seize control of the Arctic territory, according to Denmark's public broadcaster DR.
DR's reporting, based on sources within the Danish government, military, and European allied nations, also revealed that medical supplies, including blood, were stockpiled in anticipation of a potential armed conflict. The Financial Times subsequently corroborated the report through two European officials.
An unnamed senior Danish military officer confirmed to the BBC that the operation was kept highly classified, with only a small circle of officials aware of the details for security reasons.
Trump has publicly expressed his intention to buy (or annex) the semi-autonomous Danish territory during his current presidency, a demand that both Greenland's government and Denmark have consistently and firmly rejected.
Trump's interest in Greenland extends beyond military strategy. As the race to locate a new source of critical minerals presses on, world leaders are turning their attention to a previously untapped resource: the ground that sits under the Greenland Ice Sheet. Experts believe that beneath the great expanses of ice that covers 80% of the island country, there may lie an abundance of valuable minerals that could come in handy in the years to come.
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