Former Canadian UN ambassador slams U.S. plans to take over Greenland

Bob Rae, former UN ambassador for the Government of Canada, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the geopolitical implications of Trump's threats.

Canada’s former ambassador to the United Nations says U.S. President Donald Trump’s intensified push to take over Greenland is “extremely problematic.”

Bob Rae said the Trump administration’s interest in the territory is driven by a desire to “steal resources” rather than legitimate national security concerns.

“It is so obvious that it is an abuse of power, I don’t know why people are afraid to use these words,” Rae told BNN Bloomberg in an interview. Rae was the ambassador to Canada from August 2020 to November 2025.

Trump said Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO-ally Denmark, is crucial to both the U.S. and the world’s national security. Rae thinks otherwise and said everything the president does has an “economic component”.

“It really has to do directly with the interests of the U.S. but also with the interests of investors and people who are close to the president,” said Rae.

Wealth of minerals

Greenland has large deposits of rare earth minerals needed for computers, smartphones and batteries. The U.S. Geological Survey also identified potential offshore deposits of oil and natural gas. Rae said there is no need for the U.S. to take over a country for its resources.

“We’re seeing a pattern, which is gunboat diplomacy, people going up the river, creating a crisis, and then stealing the resources,” said Rae. “And that seems to be the common thread through the whole piece.”

He criticized the U.S. for using power to exploit other countries, comparing it to historical abuses like King Leopold’s Congo.

“This has everything to do with taking advantage of a situation and using power to exclude the people of a country and to take advantage of their vulnerability and to use that wealth for their own advantage.”

NATO security concerns

The U.S. has maintained a military presence in Greenland since the Second World War to ensure it would not fall to Nazi Germany. While Trump cites national security as a driver, from Russia and China, Rae said concerns could be handled through a NATO alliance.

Rae said the fall out of U.S. incursion into Greenland would dramatically undermine the credibility of the United States on the international stage.

“This will create enormous reputational damage to the U.S.”

“It’s going to be extremely problematic. It’s going to be extremely damaging to the NATO alliance in every sense.”

Rae suggests that international diplomacy from world leaders and U.S. domestic opposition are crucial to countering this behaviour.

“We need to be clear about what is wrong with this idea,” said Rae. “It’s an affront to sovereignty, it’s an affront to territorial integrity, it’s an affront to the Charter of the United Nations.”