Exclusive: Greenland 'Freedom City'? Rich donors push Trump for a tech hub up north
Source: Reuters
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 so-called 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 hasn't been previously reported, once co-founded 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 advisor.
-snip-
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 longstanding Silicon Valley movement to establish low-regulation cities globally, including in the United States, which Trump himself promised to do in a 2023 campaign video. Proponents use different names for variations on the idea, including startup cities or charter cities, with the common goal of spurring innovation through sweeping regulatory exemptions.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/greenland-freedom-city-rich-donors-push-trump-tech-hub-up-north-2025-04-10/
This idea is basically the network state, territories controlled by tech lords, that journalist Gil.Duran and others have been warning about.
From Gizmodo's Lucas Ropek in January:
https://gizmodo.com/peter-thiel-backed-startup-that-wanted-to-buy-greenland-is-thrilled-that-trump-wants-to-buy-greenland-2000548415
“I went to Greenland to try to buy it,” Dryden Brown tweeted in November. Brown, 28, is the CEO of a company called Praxis, which is part of a broader movement known as the Network State. I recently wrote about the Network Staters, who say they want to create a host of privately funded, crypto-friendly countries all around the world. Zealots of this ideology believe they’re building the future, but critics of the movement see it as little more than a bizarre neo-colonial effort to lay claim to existing countries, re-write their legal frameworks, and extract all the wealth and resources from them.
-snip-
A key figure in the success of both the Network State movement and Donald Trump has been the shadowy tech billionaire Peter Thiel. Pronomos Capital, the venture capital firm that has been responsible for financing much of the movement’s special projects (including Praxis), is financially supported by Thiel. A number of Thiel associates are also deeply intertwined with the movement, including Joe Lonsdale, the co-founder of Thiel’s defense contractor Palantir, and Michael Gibson, the former vice president of grants at the Thiel Foundation, who currently serves as an advisor at Pronomos.
-snip-
One thing’s for sure: Brown’s recent comments about Greenland really only reaffirm the idea that Network Staters are modern-day colonialists. In multiple posts, he speaks openly about the desire to exploit the territory for Western gain. In one recent missive, the young entrepreneur wrote: “It’s huge, but only has 50k ppl, rich with natural resources: uranium, gold, oil, and more, and is a critical defense asset in the Arctic.” In other posts, Brown talked about using Greenland to practice “terraforming” so that when it comes time to build a society on Mars, America will be ready.
The Reuters article also mentions Pronomos and the insane idea that "terraforming" Greenland - which IS Terra - will somehow "provide a test site for colonizing Mars.". Yes, cold and ice are just like low gravity, lack of breathable air, lack of water, etc. Idiots.
Dems will definitely have to grill Trump's pick for ambassador to Denmark, Ken Howery, about this, since Reuters says he's involved.
It's good that a news outlet like Reuters is now giving these batshit tech lord ideas more attention.
= new reply since forum marked as read
