The US delegation’s planned visit to Greenland — led by Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance — has captured the imagination of top political officials and tech billionaires alike, even as Prime Minister Mute Egede slammed the trip as being “highly aggressive.”
While recent excitement about the vast, frigid island has puzzled me, Silicon Valley sources (who take credit for the idea of buying Greenland) view it as deeply tied to America’s ambitions in space and information technology — especially concerning AI. They also see it as a critical “play for the future,” as one source put it.
Notable tech figures have shown varying degrees of support. Elon Musk is all for purchasing Greenland and Peter Thiel backs the idea of establishing an autonomous colony on the island. Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates have advocated for mining projects because of the wealth of natural resources, like rare earth minerals, critical for high-tech manufacturing.
“Take what’s needed for the US to maintain information technology dominance: data storage and computing power deployment,” Tom Dans, former commissioner of the US Arctic Research Commission, told me. “Greenland offers abundant potential energy, strategic metals and minerals, and proximity to key US population centers — all in a highly controllable environment.”
It’s roughly 1,800 miles from New York City to the capital of Nuuk, where freezing temperatures offer a hospitable climate for energy-intensive data centers. The island’s isolation reduces physical security risks faced by mainland US data plants.
“Greenland’s strategic importance to the United States goes beyond its frozen landscape … far into space. President Trump gets this. Elon understands it better than anyone,” Dans adds. “Telemetry, tracking, missile intercepts, early warning systems and Northern latitude launch sites are all part of America’s Arctic past, present and future. Greenland is key.”
The Arctic location could also be strategic for military defense and surveillance — which is partly why Chinese companies seek a foothold, too.
While the idea of annexation gained traction in Silicon Valley nearly a decade ago — in part from startups like Thiel-backed Praxis, which aims to build a futuristic, autonomous city in Greenland — since then the vision has expanded.
Sources note that the Danish territory’s proximity to the Arctic Circle also offers an ideal trajectory for polar orbits, providing a clear path for space launches that avoids densely populated areas — unlike Florida or Texas, where safety and airspace restrictions complicate operations.
Its vast, uninhabited expanses and stable climate also minimize weather delays and land-use conflicts, making it a potentially superior US spaceport site.
And tech’s role in keeping the dream of Greenland alive is reflected in President Trump’s pick for ambassador to Denmark: Ken Howery, a “PayPal Mafia” member who co-founded Founders Fund with Peter Thiel and is a friend of Elon Musk. He is still awaiting confirmation but, in Trump’s first term, Howery served as ambassador to Sweden — gaining insight into the Arctic Circle’s security and geopolitical importance.
Of course, Greenland’s PM Muté Egede has said, “We don’t want to be Americans” and there is no indication that Denmark would agree to any kind of deal.
And there are major issues with the land itself as well. Cold War-era chemical waste, including diesel fuel and radioactive materials buried by the US military beneath melting ice, could complicate development.
Nevertheless, Americans will expand their presence in Greenland further this summer when United Airlines launches direct flights between New York and Nuuk.
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Fittingly, the first flight takes off June 14 — Flag Day and Donald Trump’s birthday.
One more Silicon Valley source told me that a possible American acquisition is “the best thing that could happen to Greenland and its residents. You could either get access to all the resources of the United States or remain a small, isolated island.”
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