Rich donors may be pushing Trump to set up tech hub in Greenland

Washington — As the Trump administration intensifies efforts to acquire Greenland from Denmark — or take it by force — some Silicon Valley tech investors are promoting the frozen island as a site for a “freedom city”, a libertarian utopia with minimal corporate regulation, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The discussions are in early stages, but the idea has been taken seriously by Trump’s pick for Denmark ambassador, Ken Howery, who is expected to be confirmed by Congress in the coming months and lead Greenland-acquisition negotiations, the people said.

Howery, whose involvement with the idea has not been previously reported, once cofounded a venture-capital firm with tech billionaire Peter Thiel, a leading advocate for such low-regulation cities. Howery is also a longtime friend of Elon Musk, a top Trump adviser.

Howery declined to comment. The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Sources who spoke to Reuters requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.

The vision for Greenland, one of the people said, could include a hub for artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, space launches, micro nuclear reactors and high-speed rail. The discussions reflect a long-standing Silicon Valley movement to establish low-regulation cities globally, including in the US, which Trump himself promised to do in a 2023 campaign video.

Proponents use different names for variations on the idea, including “start-up cities” or “charter cities”, with the common goal of spurring innovation through sweeping regulatory exemptions. The administration’s consideration of such a quixotic quest underscores the growing clout of tech magnates and Trump’s increasingly expansionist foreign policy.

After campaigning on a largely isolationist platform, Trump has since his November election suggested taking back the Panama Canal, annexing Canada and redeveloping the war-torn Gaza Strip after seizing the beachfront land from displaced Palestinians.

Greenland is about three times the size of Texas with a population of only 57,000. But the island is strategically important to the US military, which has a base there, and contains substantial deposits of minerals, including rare earth elements.

Trump has refused to rule out taking Greenland by military force if Denmark will not sell it. “We have to have Greenland,” Trump said late last month as US vice-president JD Vance visited an American military base on the island.

Vance toured Greenland with his wife Usha Vance, a visit that ignited protests from Greenlanders, who overwhelmingly oppose becoming part of America, polls show. The island is owned by Denmark but governs itself. Greenland’s new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said the US visit signalled a “lack of respect”.

Speaking to troops at the US military base, Vance accused Denmark of failing to protect Greenland from “very aggressive incursions from Russia, and from China and other nations”, without detailing the alleged aggression.

The government of Denmark declined to comment on the idea of US tech investors founding a city there. Greenland’s government did not respond.

New American frontiers

The freedom city movement reflects a fascination with settling new American frontiers, rooted in nostalgia for the nation’s 1800s western expansion. Expanding to Greenland “can be the dawn of a new manifest destiny”, said tech investor Shervin Pishevar, referring to the 19th-century philosophy that America was an exceptional nation with a God-given mission to conquer territory.

Thiel, a libertarian and early Trump supporter, wrote in 2009 that he no longer considered democracy compatible with freedom and has advocated escaping politics by colonising outer space or sea-steading — building communities in ungoverned oceans.

Fellow venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, an informal adviser to Musk’s department of government efficiency (Doge), is part of a tech-investor consortium seeking to build a city on grazing land outside San Francisco. Another venture capitalist and informal Doge adviser, Joe Lonsdale, also promotes low-regulation cities.

In a statement to Reuters, Lonsdale celebrated “expanding our country to Greenland” but did not comment on plans for a city there. Thiel and Andreessen, leading proponents and financiers of the start-up city movement, are among those supportive of a Greenland outpost, two of the sources said.

Reuters could not determine whether the two billionaires are actively lobbying the Trump administration for a Greenland city.

Andreessen declined to comment. Thiel spokesperson Jeremiah Hall said: “Peter isn’t involved in any plans or discussions regarding Greenland.”

Musk did not respond to comment requests. Thiel has invested along with Andreessen and Pishevar in Pronomos Capital, a venture-capital firm that has launched a half dozen charter-city projects globally, according to Pronomos founder Patri Friedman, the grandson of famous free-market economist Milton Friedman.

Most Pronomos projects are in development and negotiations with various governments, Friedman said, but it has helped finance one existing start-up community in Honduras called Próspera. Pronomos also invested in Praxis, a city-building venture that in October announced $525m in financing for a new city. Praxis’ investors include Lonsdale, a fund launched by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his brothers, and Pishevar, who cofounded Hyperloop One, a defunct venture that tried to commercialise an idea championed by Musk.

Praxis co-founder Dryden Brown said other companies have approached Praxis about helping to establish a Greenland city. Brown flew to Greenland last year. He advocates for building a city there in part because its harsh environment could provide a test site for colonising Mars — one of Musk’s highest ambitions.

“We must build a prototype of Terminus on Earth before departing for Mars,” Brown posted on X in November, using Musk’s term for a red-planet settlement. “I believe Greenland is the place, @elonmusk.”

Reuters