U.S. intelligence agencies have focused more closely on Greenland in the past several weeks, spurred by President Trump’s interest in acquiring the island and Vice President JD Vance’s trip to a U.S. military base there, according to multiple American officials.
A growing number of intelligence reports about Greenland have been included in information circulated in the executive branch and Congress, the officials said.
The increased analytic focus by a number of intelligence agencies comes as Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to acquire the island, saying it is vital for national security. Greenland is strategically located in the Arctic Circle and has huge stores of rare earth minerals.
Danish officials have reacted negatively to news reports of stepped-up intelligence collection on Greenland, a self-governing territory of the country. The U.S. ambassador to Denmark has been summoned to a meeting, at least one member of Parliament has even proposed shuttering a consulate and its foreign minister condemned an effort by the United States to spy on Denmark, a NATO ally.
Some of the recent intelligence reports have focused on Russian or Chinese interest in the island, current and former officials said. They added that the White House remained concerned about security of the Arctic and encroachment by China and Russia on American interests.
Much of the recent intelligence work appeared to be based on open-source intelligence, not classified material, some of the officials said.
Officials interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of intelligence priorities and the Trump administration’s frequent threats of leak investigations.
There has not been a large shift in intelligence collection. Officials expect the agencies to focus more on Greenland in the coming months but are not anticipating a major reallocation of intelligence officers or reconnaissance satellites to the island.
Greenland’s population is minuscule, about 57,000, and redirecting collection assets from top administration priorities like China or the southern U.S. border would be wasteful, according to officials.
Still, they said they expected more work to be done on Greenland and its population.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence sent a “collection emphasis message” to various intelligence agencies last week, reminding directors of Mr. Trump’s interest in Greenland. The memo, which was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal, asked for information on Greenland’s independence movement and public attitudes about American resource extraction.
Former officials said collecting on those priorities was likely to involve further examination of open-source intelligence rather than placing officers on the island to infiltrate political organizations.
There is support for independence in Greenland, although officials there have emphasized that they are part of the Kingdom of Denmark and many have been alarmed by the Trump administration’s aggressive posture. While Denmark has control over Greenland’s foreign policy and defense, the island has significant autonomy. But it is very dependent on Denmark, which provides subsidies that account for about 20 percent of Greenland’s gross domestic product.
After The Journal published its article, officials said a leak investigation was underway. Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, said in a statement that “deep state actors” had released the information and were undermining American security.
Since returning to the presidency, Mr. Trump has been consistent about his desire to acquire Greenland. “We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it,” he said in his address to Congress in March. “One way or the other, we’re going to get it.”
