Donald Trump's interest in Greenland made headlines, raising questions about his motives.
Theories abound, but a look at Greenland's secret history reveals its strategic importance.
Transcript:
Gordon Corera
Gordon, you have a personal history on Greenland. Is that right? You have scouted out your second home on Greenland before the Americans could go settle it.
David McCloskey
Isn't that right? Yeah, that's right. Before Don Jr. Turned up in his jet, as he did a few weeks ago in Greenland. Trump force won Gordon landing in Greenland to go scout out the new frontier. I was ahead of them. I was ahead of them looking at the place. It's the advance party. Yeah, not for the Trump deals. So I went about a decade and a half ago, specifically looking at a US military base, which is right at the top of the world. And we're going to tell a story about some of the amazing things that have happened there, which are relevant to why Greenland is important today and why you hear Donald Trump kind of Talk in quite vague terms about the national security importance of it and its role securing the free world. And I think, you know, the backstory is fascinating and really explains that because there has been a bit of confusion, hasn't there, about why Greenland's in the?
Gordon Corera
And why is it in the sights of President Trump? I guess the news, it's kind of this classic Trumpian thing, right? Where I guess the headlines essentially are, this guy wants to buy Greenland, right? Now, there's a long history of, which we'll talk about, of trying to buy Greenland. So, he's not, and a lot of other properties in the Arctic. So, he's not, you know, sort of not ahistorical, but it sounds completely sort of mad, I think, in our modern context. But it does, if you kind of scratch below the surface of why is he talking about this? And by the way, he first proposed this in his first term. So this is kind of, this is an idea that's got some legs in Trump world. But as you dig into it, there are really, I think, important strategic interests that the US has, the broader kind of, you know, West has in Greenland, which are very fascinating. And there's (Time 0:03:02)
Greenland's Strategic Importance
Greenland's location is strategically important due to new shipping lanes opened by Arctic warming.
These lanes allow Russia and China easier access to the Atlantic, creating opportunities and vulnerabilities.
Transcript:
Gordon Corera
And there's a bunch of layers to this, but I guess we could start with maybe the geography, which is as the Arctic has gotten warmer, Greenland, more and more of the sea around it is open For longer periods of the year. And you actually have shipping lanes that 25 years ago basically didn't exist that are now open for several months during the year that allow the Russians to ship things into the Atlantic, To ship things to China, and have created kind of another set of sea lanes essentially at the top of the world.
David McCloskey
Yeah, that's right. And I think global warming is definitely one part of that and climate change. Another part is climate change is also making some of the natural resources on Greenland more accessible, which is another one of the kind of narratives you hear about Donald Trump. And the reason is it's all about kind of getting hold of those critical minerals, the oil and gas that might be there, which are suddenly becoming more accessible, that being another Kind of key reason for the interest there.
Gordon Corera
One of the things that I think is fascinating about the Arctic is that we're all sort of brought up on maps of the world that do not, I mean, I guess, how would you even describe how they picture Or show the Arctic? I mean, it's kind of, it's a flat projection, right? And so you're kind of looking at the world and thinking, well, the top of Russia and the top of Canada or North America, they can look quite far from each other. And yet, if you create a map that has the North Pole at its center and look at the world that way, you know, almost like you'd think about a map of the Mediterranean, right? All of a sudden, the US and Russia are quite close to each other. And I think the way maybe it's helpful to think about Greenland in some ways is that it's kind of the Alaska of the Atlantic. It's a beachhead for the U.S. That sticks way up north into the Arctic, that sticks out into the Atlantic, and provides a kind of almost hemispheric defense of our eastern seaboard. And in fact, when Monroe promulgated his famous doctrine, Gordon, Greenland was included, you know, as sort of part of the U.S. Sphere of influence. So, you know, there's a U.S. General that put it this way, with sort of the Arctic getting warmer, it's no longer a fortress wall up north, and the oceans aren't moats, they're actually avenues of approach. (Time 0:04:52)
US Attempts to Buy Greenland
The US has a long history of interest in Greenland, viewing it as strategically important.
They attempted to purchase it multiple times, including after WWII, but Denmark refused.
Transcript:
Gordon Corera
And so there's kind of opportunity and vulnerability because of Greenland's geography. That's right.
David McCloskey
And I think all of that suggests that Greenland is actually not marginal. It's not on the corner of a map, but it's actually of kind of real strategic and military importance. And there are lots of these places around the world, which people don't quite understand why they're so important. I mean, Diego Garcia, the Chagos Islands have been in the news here recently in the UK because the UK controls them, but there's a big US airbase on them. And they're another example of a place which seems incredibly remote, but is actually strategically important. I think that's definitely the case when it comes to Greenland. So let's just do a little bit about Greenland itself. I mean, it's a huge landmass, but it actually has a population of around 60,000, not 45,000, as Donald Trump said. Sorry to fact check the President of the United States. Most of that population are Inuit. So these are people who came over, I think, originally more from Canada many centuries ago. But there's only one person for every 15 square miles. So the place is mainly ice and the people live on a few remote communities, basically on the coast, which are habitable. It's called greenland but a history uh because a norse murderer called eric the red got exiled from iceland and he got exiled from iceland to greenland which wasn't called greenland Then but he wanted to entice other people to come settle on this new place by calling it the greenland which was obviously a lie sounds nice when you're coming from iceland yeah yeah so It's the first good example of a kind of real estate or an estate agent overselling the property, I think. It's downright Trumpian, Gordon, right off the bat. Then you get these Norse settlements for a while. They come and then they go. It's under Norwegian control. And then with an alliance with Denmark, it comes under Danish control and becomes a Danish colony. Now, zooming forward to the 20th century, so it's under Danish control. World War II, Denmark is occupied by the Nazis. We skipped a lot of history there, Gordon. We did. We're not the rest is history. We'll leave that to Tom and Dom. We went about a thousand years ahead. Yeah. Let's get to the classified stuff. So, this is actually World War II where the connections with the US kind of really start because it becomes a refueling base, a weather station, which is pretty important in the war. It's got mines, which the US is going to defend. And so the US kind of treats it almost as a protectorate, something it's going to kind of defend while Denmark is occupied. There's also this critical thing called the Greenland-Iceland gap, which is a kind of a choke point. And it's nice to hear the UK is critical, but which leads between the Arctic and the Atlantic. And in World War II, this was pretty important to control that to stop, you know, German U-boats getting through. And it's still important. So, you know, once you get to the end of the war, that's one of the many times when the US think we fancy a bit of Greenland. We'd quite like to kind of keep that. It's the Alaska of the Atlantic, Gordon. It is. I'll keep saying it. I mean, it really is, you know, it matters, right?
Gordon Corera
It matters to US national security. So, of course, we try to buy it. Yeah. So, 1867, the US aboard Alaska from the Russians. Weird thing, isn't it?
David McCloskey
I mean, that's another story. About $7 million. Great deal. And they tried. I think they looked at Greenland at the time. They look again in the 20s and the 30s. They look again at the end of the Second World War. The Danes don't want to sell it. But then this is the kind of key moment, I guess, where the Cold War starts and where we get to the kind of classified secret bit of our story. 1949, Denmark joins NATO, and the Arctic is becoming strategically important in a way that it wasn't in the past. And again, your point about geography really matters in this. And as you said, it's that idea that you have to see the world as a globe, and the fact that the shortest line between the new two superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union, if you want to fly A bomber or launch a missile, is basically over the North Pole to the middle of each country. And so actually, Greenland is bang in the middle of that. And so the US already realises at the very start of the Cold War that Greenland's significant. 1951, they signed a deal to build a base in a place called Thule. (Time 0:07:14)
Thule Air Base
In 1951, the US built Thule Air Base in Greenland, the closest base to the North Pole accessible by ship.
This base houses a powerful radar system, part of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS).
Transcript:
Gordon Corera
Thule.
David McCloskey
That's my Inuit pronunciation. You can correct it. If you speak Inuit, do you want to reveal that now? No, no. I'm going to sadbag you on the Inuit later and really, really entrap you.
Gordon Corera
But isn't Thule, isn't that the company that makes those, you know, gear carriers that go on top of cars or that it's a brand or something like that? That's where I've seen the name before.
David McCloskey
Yeah. So, Thule is at the very top northwest coast of Greenland. So, right up in the Arctic circle. The name actually becomes kind of Ultima Thule becomes this idea of the most remote place possible. And so, I think for kind of people who are into the wilderness or trekking or everything else, that's where the kind of brand name I think comes from. The idea of this being the most remote place you could get to. During the war, it's a weather station that the US uses. But then in 1951, they decide to build this big base. They relocate the Inuit inhabitants about 60 miles north to a town called Kanak. I think that's my Inuit pronunciation. That's good pronunciation. Solid B+. And the key point about this base is it's the closest you can get to the North Pole, where you can still be resupplied by ship for a few weeks in the summer when the ice melts. So, it's basically as far north as you can get, you know, to build a runway and a base, which is what the US is going to do.
Gordon Corera
Well, again, I think listeners would be also surprised if you looked at a map that pinned the North Pole at its center, just how much further toward that pole, the northernmost part of Greenland, where Tule is, juts up. You do not appreciate that if you look at just a flat map of the world, I think. You don't see it. But it is literally like almost a knife pointing up toward Russia, which provides so much of the strategic advantages that we're going to talk about.
David McCloskey
Yeah. So, they build this huge runway here at the base. And originally, the idea is they're going to use it as a kind of a refuel point, a stopping point for long-range bombers. But actually, soon the distance bombers can fly missiles. I mean, they don't necessarily need to be landing them there, but the base is still vital. And the other aspect of it, beyond actually having a landing strip there, is the fact that the geography allows you to build a radar there. Now, this is the really kind of fascinating bit about it, is that in 1961, the US builds a huge radar to detect Soviet missile launches and bombers coming over the North Pole. And it's the one part of what's called the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System, BMEWS, which is designed to give a kind of 15 minute warning that World War III is coming, and it transmits That to NORAD, Cheyenne Mountain Have you seen War Games? Do you remember that before your time, Phil? No. When- For the film, War Games? Educate me. No, no, no. I have not seen it. Classic 80s. Matthew Broderick, hacker, you've got to watch it, hacks into the kind of the NORAD computer to play games, but accidentally nearly starts World War III. But anyway, that's all to do with NORAD detecting early missile launches. And interesting enough, so Tule is one of the sites. They've got another site in Alaska, and then the third site, interesting enough, in the UK. In Yorkshire, for those who wonder what some of the big kind of radar domes are in a place called Filingdales in Yorkshire. Well, the origins of it are the kind of radars as part of this kind of ballistic missile early warning system. So, you know, if you've got Alaska, you've got Yorkshire, and you've got Greenland, you've kind of got a triangle, which covers all the directions. Iron triangle. To look for those Soviet missiles. Built in 61, still, know, a very important radar. You know, transfer. I love the fact it's been transferred, the control of it, though, to the Space Force. US Space Force. That's right. And renamed, right? It's no longer Dulé. It's Pitufik. Pitufik. Which is the local name. So I think that's a nod to the community, which might be displaced. But yeah, so it's still part of this kind of missile defense and space surveillance mission for the US up there at that base. And Gordon, you have wandered around Pitufik. (Time 0:11:21)
Visiting Thule and Camp Century
Gordon Carrera visited Thule Air Base, describing the surreal landscape and experiencing electrical anomalies due to the radar.
He also discusses Camp Century, a secret under-ice base built by the US during the Cold War.
Transcript:
David McCloskey
Isn't that right? And I've actually been to the radar itself, which is, I mean, so I went to the base, as I said, 2008. I went in September. It was balmy, right? I would describe it. So it wasn't entirely ice covered. It was a kind of Martian landscape, mainly kind of bits of ice, rocky. It was weird because it's light through most of the night at that point. So you can kind of get up at two in the morning and it's light. You still have, as you go around Greenland, even at that time, the kind of sense of disorientation, which comes from, you know, the sun not really going down, you'll see these icebergs In the distance, which are actually like enormous. And you'll hear like a crack of thunder, which is an iceberg kind of breaking off the ice shelf and moving away. I mean, it is the strangest, most unreal place I think I've ever been.
Gordon Corera
The most random piece, and really, I think, most essential bit of research that I did for this episode was to determine that most of the icebergs in the North Atlantic calve off of Greenland. Yeah. And so, Greenland sunk the Titanic, Gordon, which is a bit of a unknown sort of, I think, con in the sort of Greenland, you know, pro sheet. It's a decided negative. But yeah, all of the icebergs in the North Atlantic come off of these kind of ice fjords in Greenland and then float south and sink large passenger ships.
David McCloskey
So, you've got this wild kind of scenery, and then you've got a US military base, where got a bar which does karaoke and serves pizza. You know, it's like an American base. And you've been to American bases. They all kind of like try and transfer a little bit of America to wherever they are so that people can feel at home. They have a mile high club. Is that right? A top of the world club, David. Oh, top of the world club. Okay. Slightly different. Yeah.
Gordon Corera
The other thing, Gordon, I did some more research on this base and I had a question for you, which is when you were at Thule, which direction did your compass point? Ah, yeah. Do you know?
David McCloskey
I cannot remember, but I remember everything going wild. You didn't bring a compass? No, I didn't. I'm not, I'm not an explorer. I would have thought on your Arctic expedition, you would have brought a compass.
Gordon Corera
Is that to do with the magnetic North Pole as to the real North Pole and things like that, isn't it? Your compass will basically point west. Right. Because that's where the magnetic North Pole is relative to Thule. And the other great bit here that I found is, do you remember when you opened an exterior door or when someone opened an exterior door, whether they pushed the handle down or up? No, 15 years ago, I don't remember. Go on. They go up. And do you know why? Most handles, you know, you push it down. Yeah. Polar bears. So, if you push, basically, the idea being the bear probably won't lift the handle but it might like lean into the door and push the handle down and then get access to the base. Polar bears can't lift.
David McCloskey
That's what you're telling me. Yes. That is something you, I bet your listeners were not expecting to learn that from today's show. Full of all kinds of wonderful facts.
Gordon Corera
I guess it's the only or maybe one of the few bases in the world where you do have to think about protection from bears, polar bears in particular.
David McCloskey
The other weird thing was we did go to the radar and we drove towards the radar. And I just remember the car kind of making these buzzing and popping sounds as you got close to the radar. And the controls on the dashboard literally started having a life of their own. And the electrics of the car were clearly being frazzled by this radar. It was like an X-Files episode. Another reference, not sure you get. Oh, I get that. You get that. What happened to your pacemaker? Nothing. Thank you, David. Gordon's pacemaker went haywire. I do not have a pacemaker before you ask. You're being mischievous trying to throw me. But anyway, so the radar itself is this kind of weird place where they're, you know, they're still looking for stuff coming from space or over from the Soviet Union. Strange, strange place. Although that is not even the strangest thing that's ever been around that base. This is my favourite story. Before we get to the kind of story of a lost nuclear bomb, is a place called Camp Century, which I didn't visit because it's not there anymore. But it's about 150 miles from Tule. And the US built in the way only the US could have done in the Cold War, a under ice base in the middle of nowhere called Camp Century in 1959. It's got real Bond villain vibes to it, doesn't it? It's totally Bond villain. Although I have to say, Callum, our producer said it's more like the rebel base at Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. You a Star Wars fan, David? Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, no.
Gordon Corera
I actually was I was trying to remember the name of the ice monster that captures Luke Skywalker and takes him to his cave. And I couldn't. So I had to look it up. But it's a wampa. OK, so you'd have this was a this would have been one of the if you've seen the movie, as most listeners probably have Empire Strikes Back, the vibes here, Gordon, would have been decidedly Ice cavey. Yeah, you would have had sort of giant Yeti-like things running around. It was great. And they have a barbershop, apparently. Well, I guess where else? You can't leave to get your haircut anywhere else, right?
David McCloskey
Barbershop, chapel, theater, dormitories, the largest walk-in freezer. The whole thing's a walk-in freezer, right? Which I kind of think is a bit redundant anyway, which is why you need a walk-in freezer in the middle of the ice. And a nuclear reactor. So, to power it all, they shipped in a nuclear reactor. What's really interesting about this base is the base itself is not secret. So they actually have Walter Cronkite, the US newsman, and some Boy Scouts come and visit it. And it's also the cover story, and it is a cover story, is that this is a research base looking at survival in the Arctic and even, you know, climate change, how it's adapting. And that's also what they tell the Danish government, of course, whose land it is. But actually, David, there was a darker (Time 0:15:32)
Project Iceworm
Camp Century's true purpose was Project Iceworm, a plan to build a network of nuclear missiles under the ice.
The project was abandoned due to the shifting ice, but it highlights Greenland's potential as a nuclear base.
Transcript:
Gordon Corera
Secret to it. Obviously, there's a giant, you know, sort of like subterranean ice world. It definitely has a dark secret. Project Ice Worm.
David McCloskey
Oh, that's a great name. It's a good name. That's a great name. I'm looking for titles for my next book. That's going to be it. That's on the list. Which again, this is nutty Bond stuff, which you couldn't believe really happened. But they're trying to work out whether you could have a secret network of nuclear missiles under the ice in Greenland, which would allow the US to hit the Soviet Union back if the Soviet Union has launched a first strike on the United States. So in other words, the Soviets blow up continental US, but secretly the US has 600 nuclear missiles in tunnels. The idea would have been moving along train tracks under the Greenland ice sheet, ready to pop up and launch at the Soviet Union in retaliation. Makes sense to this US taxpayer.
Gordon Corera
Let's do it. But they never, did they actually put nukes there?
David McCloskey
No, they kind of, they gave up. That's disappointing. Yeah, it is disappointing. But basically, they realised you could put longer range missiles in hardened silos in the US, and you could use submarine launch missiles, and they would all give you the ability to Survive a first strike without having to kind of use the Greenland base. But there's this idea, so it's even back in the 60s, that Greenland could be a kind of a massive nuclear missile base. And eventually, they it in 1966. And one of the reasons is the ice is crushing Camp Century. It's moving and it's crushing the walls. And they realised, basically, this is not going to work.
Gordon Corera
So, it was abandoned just like the Hoth base. Exactly. Callum's analogy holds on multiple levels. Yeah, but there weren't at-ats kind of attacking it. Anyway, it's a bit different. Well, okay. So, we have Greenland set up as a giant island of strategic importance to the United States. It is pointed right at Russia. It allows us to monitor. I mean, this radar, Gordon, that you went to that maybe fried your ability to do math because it's so powerful, it can apparently see something moving the size of like a tennis ball 3,000 Miles away. So, this is a very serious real deal radar. So, we've got the radar there. We're watching the Soviet Union. There's a bunch of important minerals on Greenland. It's pointed right at the heart of Moscow. And critically, a nuclear bomber is going to experience some real trouble Greenland in the 1960s. When we come back, we're going to tell the story of a broken arrow in the heart of Greenland. See you after the break. All right. Well, welcome back. We are telling the secret history of Greenland on The Rest is Classified. And Gordon, we are now at a point in the Cold War where things are going to get very, very hot on Greenland very quickly, aren't they?
David McCloskey
That's right. So, this early Cold War period, as we were talking about, the US is still really fearing a kind of Soviet first strike. And so Strategic Air Command, which does the kind of US nuclear posture, from 1958 starts running something called Chrome Dome missions. Every day, 12 B-52 bombers armed with thermonuclear bombs go on 24-hour sorties over the kind of northern and southern part of the Atlantic. And the idea is that they are ready to drop the bomb on the Soviet Union. So the idea is if the Soviets launch a strike, these planes are constantly in the air, permanently, carrying the weapons, just waiting for the go code to say, go drop the bomb. What could go wrong? What could go wrong? What could go wrong? (Time 0:21:10)
