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MISSING THE MARK

Trump’s ‘Massive’ Brag Immediately Gets Brutal Reality Check

The president was instantly fact-checked.

Trump speaks with members of the press

Elizabeth Frantz/REUTERS

President Donald Trump’s brag that “Massive Oil, Gas, and Mineral Exploration is getting ready to begin” in Greenland was met with an immediate reality check on Wednesday.

“We are very far away from ‘massive’ exploration,” Greenland’s deputy mining minister Jørgen Hammeken-Holm told CNN, responding to the president’s Truth Social post.

Hammeken-Holm said “there are activities by U.S. companies,” and “many smaller explorations underway,” but noted that “these could take years to become operational.”

Donald Trump Truth Social Post

Trump claimed Wednesday that “Massive Oil, Gas, and Mineral Exploration is getting ready to begin” in Greenland.

Truth Social/Donald Trump

Trump, 80, has repeatedly argued throughout his second term in office that acquiring mineral-rich Greenland is necessary for national security, citing its strategic Arctic location.

The semiautonomous island of Greenland is part of Denmark, a NATO member, and hosts a U.S. Space Force base. Most of its rare earth mineral deposits lie deep within the Arctic Circle, where the harsh climate makes access difficult.

China has also shown renewed interest in Greenland in recent years, attempting and largely failing to establish a presence in the region through scientific research expeditions, investments in infrastructure, and natural resource acquisitions.

“There are Experts that are saying that the amount of easily available Oil is far greater than that of almost any land, anywhere in the World,” Trump wrote on Truth Social about the island, which ranks eighth globally for rare earth reserves.

Trump shakes hands with Greenland Prime Minister

Trump shakes hands with Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, as they attend a trilateral signing event.

Kylie Cooper/REUTERS

The U.S., Denmark and Greenland signed a defense deal last month allowing Washington to build two more military bases on the island, while maintaining its status as a semiautonomous Danish territory.

Trump shakes hands with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

Trump shakes hands with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

Kylie Cooper/REUTERS

The trilateral agreement came after members of the NATO military alliance warned against using U.S. military force to seize the Arctic territory. It amends a U.S.-Denmark defense pact dating back to 1951 that allowed Washington to build and operate military bases on the island.

The president said last month that the agreement gives the U.S. “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland.”

“Any future attack on the United States will have to come across Greenland, where our Defense will routinely knock down drones, missiles, or any other form of weapon not yet even conceived. It gives us time, location, and sightline, like nowhere else in the World!” Trump added in his post on Wednesday.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

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