Jessica Mendoza

I'm Jessica Mendoza.

It's Tuesday, January 20th.

Coming up on the show, the diplomatic rupture between the U.S.

and Europe over Greenland.

President Trump has had his eye on Greenland since his first term.

And since getting reelected, he's put the issue front and center.

At first, Trump expressed interest in buying the island.

Denmark, which controls Greenland, said it wasn't for sale.

Here's Danish Prime Minister Meta Fredriksen.

European Union leaders stood behind Denmark.

And for a while, that was that.

But then, early this month, Trump made a big geopolitical move that stunned the world.

The US captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and that signaled he was serious about a new era of foreign policy.

Trump frames the argument for U.S.

control of Greenland as an issue of national security.

The island is a potentially rich source of rare earth minerals, which are crucial for everything from magnets to chips to defense systems.

Trump also points to increased Russian military presence in the Arctic and says that the region will be at the center of the next global power struggle.

Then, on January 15th, the EU sent a contingent of troops to Greenland.

The idea, according to Max's reporting, was to show Trump that they were willing and able to defend the region.

Just to be clear, so the EU, from their perspective, they were sending a small contingent of troops to Greenland to say, hey, look, we can protect this territory.