Former Trump Adviser Confirms Greenland Will Remain Independent

Wed Jan 21 2026 22:14:44 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Gary Cohn, former economic adviser to Donald Trump, emphasizes Greenland's sovereignty and discusses U.S. interests in the region during a recent interview.

In a recent interview, Gary Cohn, who served as Trump's economic adviser, stated that Greenland will remain an independent territory despite heightened tension and interest from the U.S. He linked the interest in Greenland to the need for access to rare minerals, while also expressing concerns over potential military actions. Cohn highlighted bipartisan agreement that Greenland will not change ownership and hinted that recent U.S. discussions about the territory could be part of broader negotiations.

Donald Trump will not be able to force Greenland to change ownership, a former top adviser to the US president has told the BBC.

IBM's vice chairman Gary Cohn, who advised Trump on the economy in his first term, said Greenland will stay Greenland and linked the need for access to critical minerals to his former boss's plans for the territory.

Cohn is one of America's top tech bosses, a leader in the race to develop AI and quantum computing, and served under Trump as director of the White House National Economic Council.

In a sign of how seriously business leaders are taking the crisis, he warned invading an independent country that is part of Nato would be over the edge.

He also suggested the president's recent comments about Greenland may be part of a negotiation.

I just came from a US congressional delegation meeting, and I think there's pretty uniform consensus with both Republicans and Democrats that Greenland will stay Greenland, he said.

Greenland would be happy for the US to increase its military presence on the island, he said, with the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean becoming much more of a military threat.

The US could also negotiate an offtake agreement for Greenland's vast yet largely untapped supplies of rare earth minerals, Cohn suggested.

He indicated that Trump's aggressive actions regarding Greenland may be exaggerated for negotiation leverage, stating that the president has previously succeeded by overstating his demands to gain favorable terms.

As political leaders and business executives gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the discussion around Greenland's importance to the US, especially in relation to rare earth minerals critical for technology development, remains a hot topic.