Donald Trump doesn't just want to conquer Greenland, he also wants the Moon

©Niketh Vellanki via Unsplash

Greenland remains at the forefront of Donald Trump's concerns. This is not a diplomatic whim, but the emblem of a vision of power, focused on territorial expansion, strategic control and all the gestures designed to leave a mark. The idea of 'buying it' has never really disappeared from the American president's political horizon.

The desire to buy Greenland seems to have opened up a trajectory that extends even further, beyond the Earth's atmosphere, all the way to the Moon.

This is no mere provocation. Just before Christmas, Donald Trump signed an executive order committing NASA to sending American astronauts back to our satellite by 2028, before the end of his second term in office. A political decision that turns space exploration into a matter of personal legacy.

From Arctic ice to the Moon

The link between Greenland and the Moon is less fanciful than it might seem. Both represent highly symbolic territories, frontier zones where geopolitical ambitions, technology and narratives of power converge.

Philip Johnston, political commentator and columnist for the Daily Telegraph, points out that the loudest political manoeuvres seem very fragile when compared with the pyramids of Giza. (...) these monuments always tell the same obsession story: the desire to leave a trace that will survive time.

(...) Today, the Moon plays a role similar to that of the colossal statues of Ramses II at Abu Simbel: it responds not only to a practical logic, but also to a thirst for grandeur.

Artemis, billions and priorities on Earth

The Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule were recently delivered to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center. The Artemis II mission is due to lift off shortly with four astronauts on board for a non-landing lunar orbit. Artemis III could bring humans back to the lunar surface as early as next year. Other missions are planned afterwards to create a permanent base, designed as a springboard to Mars.

The US Congress financed the programme, in particular through the development of reusable launchers, by incorporating the funds into the law that Trump has renamed the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act'. The result was a colossal bill: billions of dollars of public money.

While a return to the Moon is presented as a technological breakthrough, it is first and foremost a political choice. While billions of dollars are being spent beyond the Earth's orbit, here on Earth there are still unresolved problems that cannot be delayed, such as the climate crisis.

(©GreenMe.it 2026/Managing editor : Selma Keshkire - The Press Junction/Picture: Niketh Vellanki via Unsplash)