Greenland’s government has issued a “strong warning” to a U.S. oil company with links to Donald Trump after it brought drilling equipment ashore without prior approval.

Texas-based Greenland Energy, established last year, was admonished for having its equipment shipped to the east coast of the Arctic island recently without permission.

“The Department of Industry and Minerals can state that the licensee did not have the necessary approvals,” the government of the semi-autonomous Danish territory said in a statement.

“A strong warning will be sent to the licensee with a warning that all future logistical matters must be advised and approved by the mineral resources authority – before they are carried out.”

Greenland Energy has expressed its hopes of moving into the remote Jameson Land region and investing $60 million in exploratory drilling.

The company believes there could be $1 trillion worth of crude oil buried there, describing the area as “one of, if not the last, highly prospective, yet completely undrilled basins globally.”

However, Nuuk has not issued any new oil licenses since 2021 when White Flame Energy, a subsidiary of the British firm 80 Mile, acquired the exploration rights to Jameson Land.

Corporate filings cited by The Guardian indicate that Greenland Energy now hopes to acquire a majority stake in its project in exchange for bankrolling the exploration work.

A company spokesman reportedly told a community meeting in June, mistakenly, that it had permission to land the drilling equipment, leading chairman Larry Swets to clarify: “Our enthusiasm for the project led us to communicate in a way that created confusion.”

In July, locals noticed a tugboat towing a barge towards the port of Nerlerit Inaat that was carrying at least 15 shipping containers housing the equipment, according to Danwatch.

“The goal was to get the equipment onshore at Nunap Qeqqa [Jameson Land] in connection with planned oil exploration drilling,” Greenland’s government said.

“At the time of the shipment from Dundas to Tasiilaq, the licensee had an approval to land the equipment on Nunap Qeqqa. The approval has since expired and has not currently been renewed, but is under processing.”

Jorgen Hammeken-Holm, who leads the territory’s Ministry of Mineral Resources, has meanwhile sought to downplay any tensions, saying in an interview with KRN he was at ease with the company “getting things ready to go.”

“For me, it’s completely natural, even if you don’t have a permit, to start putting the logistics together,” he said. “To start assembling containers and all the equipment.”

In a subsequent letter to its shareholders Thursday, Greenland Energy said: “Recent high-level meetings between project leadership and Greenlandic regulatory and oversight authorities have been constructive, and we continue to be encouraged by the progress being made toward the remaining approvals required for drilling.”

The Independent has reached out to Greenland Energy for comment.

The episode comes amid Trump’s on-off pressure campaign to gain control of the 836,000 square mile territory, insisting the U.S. has more need of it than Denmark for national security purposes.

The president has sparred with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and other Nato allies over the issue while sending the likes of Vice President JD Vance, his son Donald Trump Jr and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry to the island to gauge the extent of local enthusiasm.

Trump has posted a number of memes on his Truth Social platform to keep the matter alive, most recently one of himself as a giant peering over the mountains at a local township, with the caption: “Hello Greenland.”

In his first term, he posted one of a new Trump Tower looming over the island’s rocky shoreline with the caption: “I promise not to do this to Greenland!”

Greenland Energy chairman Swets has meanwhile insisted his company’s ambitions for Jameson Land are “not related to American annexation.”

Assuming it can secure the necessary approval, a representative for the company said it plans to ship 300 containers of drilling equipment from Canada in September with a view to getting down to work in October.