Ignoring the practicality of achieving it for a moment, acquiring Greenland and Canada gives an allied Russia and US near full control of the Arctic Ocean corridors. Most of us spend our time staring at 2D Mercator-esque maps, so I highly recommend taking a look at things from the top down to appreciate this:

Also see: https://geology.com/world/arctic-ocean-map.shtml

I think it’s best to consider that this is a long term play for control of the Arctic. Sea ice very much remains a factor, but the amount is shrinking every year due to global warming. Over time this opens up new seasonal routes, both for drilling and transport.

Sure, it could just be Trump’s narcissism wanting him to add another state during his presidency. The thing to remember is that someone else is always the one giving him these ideas. (see: Project 2025) These imperialistic ambitions on Greenland and Canada of all places did not emerge from nowhere. It’s the motives of people who are giving him these ideas that you need to be concerned with.

Svalbard is next.

It’s quantifiable and expected threat by a known entity, versus nebulous threat by a unknown entity.

The records will be scrutinized. The FoIA requests will happen. The hack of their private infrastructure might not ever happen, and even if does, the foreign actors are not necessarily going to leak the records back to the US constituents: the real perceived threat.

They’ll gladly risk operational security for less paper trail. Every. Fucking. Time.