Former national security adviser John Bolton revealed President Donald Trump summoned him to discuss buying Greenland during his first term. The proposal came from longtime Trump friend Ronald Lauder, heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics fortune. A fellow wealthy New Yorker, Lauder knew Trump for over 60 years.
Bolton discussed the Greenland proposition directly with Lauder. Following Lauder’s intervention, White House staff explored ways to boost US influence in the vast Danish-controlled Arctic territory.
Trump now pursues this idea forcefully in his second term, even contemplating military takeover.
Business ties raise conflict questions
Lauder’s policy suggestions intersect with his commercial interests. As Trump escalated Greenland seizure threats, Lauder acquired holdings there. He also joins a consortium seeking Ukrainian minerals, spurring Trump’s demands for shares of war-torn resources.
Lauder worked in family cosmetics, served under Reagan at the Pentagon and as Austria ambassador, then ran unsuccessfully for New York mayor in 1989. He donated $100,000 to Trump’s 2016 victory committee and praised his “insight and intelligence” in 2018.
Arctic expansion and rare earths
Lauder assisted Trump with “complex diplomatic challenges,” planting the Greenland expansion seed. The Wall Street Journal exposed Trump’s interest in 2019, outraging Denmark. Trump tweeted a mock Trump Tower over Greenland village, promising “not to do this.”
I promise not to do this to Greenland! pic.twitter.com/03DdyVU6HA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2019
Last February, Lauder defended Trump’s military takeover idea in the New York Post. He highlighted rare-earth elements vital for AI, weaponry, technology beneath melting ice, plus emerging maritime routes reshaping trade and security. As “great-power competition epicentre,” Greenland warrants US strategic partnership.
Ukraine minerals and donations resume
Lauder worked years with Greenland business and government leaders on investments. A leaked 2023 TechMet letter named him in a consortium targeting Ukraine’s lithium deposits. Leading Republicans pushed US resource access; Trump championed it loudest.
Weeks after Lauder’s $5m March 2025 donation to Maga Inc and attending a $1m-plate Trump dinner, Washington-Kyiv signed a minerals deal. This lithium tender became the first awarded; Lauder’s consortium reportedly won it this month.
Source: The Guardian
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