On Thursday Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States must defend its interests in the Arctic region amid expectations that China will begin setting up ‘corporate’ facilities in Greenland ahead of a potential invasion of the Arctic country, which is currently owned by Denmark.
“The Arctic is some of the most valuable shipping lanes in the world, as some of the ice is melting it’s becoming more and more navigable, we need to be able to defend that,” Rubio said on Sirius XM’s ‘The Megyn Kelly Show’. “If you project what the Chinese have done, it is just a matter of time before…because they are not an Arctic power, they do not have an Arctic presence. So they need to be able to have somewhere that they could staged from.”
Rubio began talking about the threat of China in the Arctic around 30:00 into the interview. He talked about how the U.S. has allowed China to cheat on trade and take advantage of the West while also building up its military and global control of resources.
Secretary of State @MarcoRubio on Buying Greenland, His Trip to Panama, and How to End the Russia-Ukraine War
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) January 31, 2025
WATCH: pic.twitter.com/dXQT962dm6
“And it is completely realistic to believe that the Chinese will eventually, maybe in the short term, try to do in Greenland what they have done at the Panama Canal and other places,” Rubio said. “And that is install facilities that get them access to the Arctic with the cover of a Chinese company, but then in reality serve a dual purpose, in a moment of conflict they could send naval vessels to that facility and operate from there.”
Rubio said that Trump believes Denmark could not stop China invading Greenland, with the Arctic country instead expected to rely on the U.S. for defense. Rubio said that this is why Trump wants to have more control over Greenland.
President Trump has announced previously that he wishes to purchase Greenland from Denmark.