A Texas Energy Company, Dr Phil & Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ Friends
President Trump made one key motivation of his imperialistic ambitions in Greenland clear in a Truth Social post early this morning, claiming that a “massive oil, gas and mineral exploration” was set to begin in “our new and beautiful Greenland!”
He is referencing the paltry-for-the-U.S. security deal that he was able to eke out of Greenland and Denmark last month, which Trump has hailed as some sort of victory for his longtime vision of the U.S. taking Greenland under its control. In reality, Denmark, the U.S. and Greenland signed an agreement in September that allows the U.S. to expand its military presence on the semi-autonomous territory of Denmark. It appears as though the deal has, for now, quieted Trump’s broader ambitions to take the island by force.
The deal does not give the U.S. any new mining or drilling rights and Greenland banned all future oil drilling back in 2021. Greenland officials have already combatted Trump’s statement, according to CNN:
While Greenland’s deputy mining minister Jørgen Hammeken-Holm acknowledged that “there are activities by US companies,” he told CNN that “we are very far away from ‘massive’ exploration.”
“There are many smaller explorations underway but these could take years to become operational,” he added, echoing researchers who have pointed out the difficulties and enormous expense involved in extracting resources from Greenland.
I haven’t really seen anyone mention this in their coverage so I wanted to elevate some reporting I did a few months back about a Trump-linked Dr. Phil drilling project that is in the works in Greenland — and almost certainly what Trump is referring to here (Reuters does mention the project in passing in its coverage of Trump’s remarks). The connection becomes more explicit in this line of Trump’s Truth Social post:
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 and, even more importantly, from a Security Purpose in the Defense and Offense of both the United States of America, and Europe, is second to none.
Trump is likely referring to the project that a Texas-based firm, Greenland Energy, is trying to embark on in Greenland’s remote Nunap Qeqqa, or Jameson Land. Greenland Energy executives have claimed they have reason to believe that $1 trillion worth of crude oil may lie beneath the surface of Jameson Land.
Reports surfaced in August suggesting the company was readying resources to begin drilling in the region, even though it did not yet have permission from local officials or the Greenland government to do so. The government is currently still reviewing whether Greenland Energy has the right to drill in the area due to its partnership with a UK company that secured the rights to drill in Jameson Land before the 2021 ban.
I wrote about the whole thing extensively here. But in essence, the Texas-based Greenland Energy project had Trump’s finger-prints all over it before he made things so explicit in this post. Executives for the company have mentioned “disruptions to key shipping corridors, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz” as a motivating factor for embarking on the project and Dr. Phil’s media company has partnered with Greenland Energy to make a docu-series about the drilling venture.
Add to the fact that Greenland Energy personnel have close and obvious ties to Trump and his hegemonic salivating over Greenland, per my piece back in August:
Greenland Energy announced in June that it had added Carol Craig to the company’s board of directors. Craig runs a space exploration and defense company that is heavily involved in Trump’s “Golden Dome” project, the missile defense plan that Trump has used as a basis for his ongoing argument that the “ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity” for the U.S. (It’s worth noting that the chair of Greenland Energy’s board, Larry Swets, is reportedly known to have the president’s ear and has said publicly that the drilling project is “not related to American annexation,” per The Guardian.)
The signs were all there before Trump shouted about them on Truth Social just after midnight last night.
— Nicole LaFond
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Me thinks our CF does not know how to read carefully and/or he needs hearing aides. Dr. P probably told CF he was on his way to Greenland to begin filming. CF - hearing only what he wants to hear - heard drilling. They don’t have permission to do anything. Push back Denmark !
Everyone in the world knows Trump is lying.
Republicans, it’s not okay.
Media, it’s not okay.
So Dr.Phil is the Face of God? That clears a lot of things up for me.
Well, Bob Price! We’ve been tagging along with you. We’ve noticed that you’ve been hanging out a lot with your new best friend ‘Dr. Phil.’
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:
How’s that working out for you, Bob?
Denmark and Greenland would be smart to revoke every license, drilling right, contract, agreement, pinkie swear, you name it, and ask everyone associated in any way with trump and Big Corporations to get the hell out, and don’t let them back. If they don’t they’re going to be drilling and test welling every inch of Greenland, and send all that beautiful ice into the ocean.