By bizn_fun 
But critics of Trump’s designs on the island, say it is not clear why US control would be necessary to access the island’s resources.
Analysts also warn that tapping them is easier said than done.
Among other challenges, mining in Greenland currently is expensive and hampered by severe weather conditions, a lack of infrastructure and a small labour force, Lamy said.
While exploration permits have been given for 100 blocs of the island, there are just two productive mines in Greenland.
“Greenland has been trying to attract outside investments into its extractive industries for a long time, and has not had a lot of luck because the business case just hasn’t really been there,” said Mikkel Runge Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies.
“It’s true that there are huge quantities of minerals of various kinds in Greenland. However, it also costs a lot of money to extract those minerals.”
But Prof Andrew Shepherd, director of the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, said rapidly melting layers of ice are increasingly easing the process, exposing rock for potential mining and creating river runoff.
“Getting all the fieldwork done traditionally has been very hard to do because you have to get energy to remote regions,” he told the BBC.
“With the melting ice, you get the potential for hydro power in the area where the land is being exposed… so this presents itself as an interesting prospect.”
Jennifer Spence, director of the Arctic Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School, said when it came to mining in Greenland, “it’s all still about potential”.
Still, she thinks the island’s strategic shipping location and rare earths deposits were key factors drawing Trump’s attention.
“His logic is that there’s a national security imperative,” Spence said. “My belief is that this is much more economically driven.”
Additional reporting by Natalie Sherman