“Greenland is a vast, almost entirely uninhabited and undeveloped territory, sitting undefended in a key strategic location between the US, Russia and China”.

He says its importance has only grown with the increased prominence of rare earth metals.

“That’s not the reason we need it, we need it for strategic national security and international security”, he said.

He went on to claim that it is part of North America and therefore “our territory”.

“It is therefore a core national security interest” of the US.