Podcast Summary

Podcast: Planet Money (NPR)
Episode: How to get what Greenland has, with permission
Date: February 18, 2026
Hosts: Sarah Gonzalez, Mary Childs

Overview

This episode unpacks why Greenland and its rare earth minerals have suddenly become the focus of U.S. geopolitical attention, fuelled by President Trump's statements about buying or even taking Greenland. The episode analyzes the deeper economic and strategic factors at play, the realities of mineral security, and alternative ways the U.S. expands its global influence—often without ownership or conquest. Listeners are introduced to the complexities of resource acquisition, global supply chains, military strategy, and indigenous perspectives from Greenland itself.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Greenland’s Unique Value: Location and Minerals

• Geopolitical Position: Greenland is situated on a critical Arctic shipping route between the U.S., Russia, and China—making it highly strategic for missile defense (03:00–03:21).
• Mineral Wealth: Deep beneath Greenland’s ice are rare earth minerals—especially the “heavy” rare earths vital for modern technologies (03:00–08:04).
  • Quote:
    • “What is interesting is … how the US dropped the ball on the rare earths race. Like, why doesn't the US already have the minerals it wants?” — Sarah Gonzalez (03:47)
• What Do Rare Earths Look Like?
  • "They're not golden, sparkly. They're not shiny like a diamond, but they're incredibly valuable." — Gracelyn Baskarin (01:33)

2. U.S. Dependence on China for Rare Earths

• Most rare earth processing (especially heavies) is done in China, creating a major U.S. vulnerability (08:04).
• In 2019, China’s export restrictions during the trade war shut down Ford Explorer production in Chicago due to mineral shortages (08:35–08:42).
  • Quote:
    • “Less than eight weeks after China imposed those restrictions, we stopped manufacturing Ford Explorers in Chicago.” — Gracelyn Baskarin (08:35)
• The U.S. once led production of rare earths but, by the mid-1990s, ceded dominance to China (09:00–09:28).

3. How China Plays the Long Game

• China invests heavily in overseas infrastructure (the Belt and Road Initiative), gaining access to critical minerals around the world, including attempts to invest in Greenland's infrastructure and minerals (09:54–10:48).
  • “China’s approach by doing infrastructure first is how it has conquered much of the world. ... Infrastructure is soft power.” — Gracelyn Baskarin (10:13–10:19)

4. Does the U.S. Need to Buy Greenland?

• No. Greenland welcomes partnerships with the U.S., preferring them over Chinese involvement (11:59–12:21).
  • “Greenland’s Minister for Business and Mineral Resources has actually said it wants to work with the US.” — Mary Childs (11:59)
• Extracting rare earths from Greenland would take decades and massive infrastructure investment—there’s no quick fix (12:45–13:32).
  • "If China cuts me off today and I have three months supply as a country, Greenland is not an answer to that." — Gracelyn Baskarin (13:32)

5. The Real Solution: Global Cooperation

• No single nation can achieve mineral security alone. Processing, technology, and supply chains are interdependent (13:54–14:42).
  • “Just because you have geology doesn’t mean you have mineral security, ... Those technological capabilities also don't exist in one country.” — Gracelyn Baskarin (14:15)
• Trade deals, not conquest, have always been the U.S. default (see “butter-for-bauxite” trade with Jamaica).
• Greenland’s minerals are a “nice to have, but not absolutely critical” (15:29).

6. Why Greenland’s Location Matters

• Trump stated that the strategic location is the real motivation, not just minerals (16:41).
  • “Greenland is a vast, almost entirely uninhabited and undeveloped territory sitting undefended in a key strategic location between the United States, Russia and China.” — Trump (paraphrased by Daniel Immerwahr) (16:58)
• The military already has significant access in Greenland due to NATO and historical agreements (21:02–23:04).

7. The U.S. Model: Bases, Not Borders

• The U.S. expands global presence via hundreds of military bases—functionally similar to territory, with profound rights and jurisdiction, but without sovereignty (20:03–21:55).
  • Quote:
    • “The military admits to roughly 500 of them, and journalists have found about 200 more.” — Daniel Immerwahr (20:40)
    • “...what is being sold in almost every case is not just land, but people.” — Daniel Immerwahr (18:48)
• The U.S. has had “nearly unchecked access” to Greenland for defense since 1951. “It can already move freely in Greenland for defense as long as it lets Greenland and Denmark know” (23:04).

8. Indigenous Greenlandic Perspective

• Land is not for sale—ownership is an alien concept rooted in Inuit tradition (06:50).
  • “This is rooted in the Inuit belief that land is not for sale, but something to be shared.” — Saka (06:50)
• Greenlanders are experienced traders, not passive spectators; they have traded globally for millennia (25:53–26:32).
• The true fear: U.S. rhetoric about “taking” Greenland makes the idea of conquest less taboo worldwide and worries people about broader global stability (24:52–25:37).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “They're not shiny like a diamond, but they're incredibly valuable.” — Gracelyn Baskarin on rare earths (01:33)
• “Less than eight weeks after China imposed those restrictions, we stopped manufacturing Ford Explorers in Chicago because of that shortage.” — Gracelyn Baskarin (08:35)
• “China’s approach by doing infrastructure first is how it has conquered much of the world. ... Infrastructure is soft power.” — Gracelyn Baskarin (10:13)
• “Just because you have geology doesn’t mean you have mineral security.” — Gracelyn Baskarin (14:15)
• “Greenland is not in the market for a new colonizer.” — Saka (26:32)
• “We are not passive spectators as many have portrayed us to be. We are good tradespeople … for us to survive and thrive in the Arctic for time immemorial, for thousands of years.” — Saka (25:53)
• “My name is Daniel Immerwahr. The W is pronounced as a V. So it is Immervar. Immervar. Immervar. You have to say it three times or I don't.” — Daniel Immerwahr (17:54)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:03 — Why Greenland’s rare earth minerals matter
• 03:21 — Greenland's strategic military position
• 06:41 — Indigenous perspective: Land ownership & autonomy
• 08:04 — U.S. dependence on China for mineral processing
• 09:30 — How China built mineral dominance via global infrastructure
• 11:59 — U.S. can access Greenland’s minerals without force
• 13:32 — Greenland’s minerals are not a near-term solution
• 14:42 — The only path forward: Global cooperation
• 16:41 — Trump and the security rationale for wanting Greenland
• 18:32 — U.S. history: buying territory and its people
• 20:18 — U.S. expands globally via military bases, not conquest
• 23:04 — U.S. has “nearly unchecked access” to Greenland
• 24:52 — Indigenous and global concerns about new expansionism
• 25:53 — Greenlanders as active global traders, not passive subjects

Summary Takeaway

This episode reveals how the race for rare earth minerals, U.S.-China rivalry, and the peculiar status of Greenland intersect in a complex web of resource dependency, military strategy, and cultural sovereignty. It challenges the myth that owning resources equals security, showing how supply chains are irreducibly global and how trade and cooperation remain the best means of securing vital materials—while also highlighting the risks of returning to a world of conquest and resource grab. Greenlanders, meanwhile, remind listeners that they are not pawns but partners on the world stage.