Ronald Lauder, an 81-year-old billionaire, is said to be the brains behind Trump’s Greenland push. Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton has said that it was Ronald who planted the idea of buying Greenland in Trump’s head.
https://youtu.be/AocLthZGroo
But who is Ronald? What do we know about the long-time friend of Trump, businessman and philanthropist?
Let’s take a closer look.
Who is Ronald?
Ronald was born into a Jewish family in New York City on February 26, 1944. His mother, Estée Lauder, founded the famous cosmetics firm of the same name in 1946. Ronald is her youngest son.
Ronald studied at the Bronx High School of Science, after which he attended the Wharton School (BS in International Business). He also went to the University of Paris and the University of Brussels.
Ronald grew up in the business. He was just 20 years old in 1964 when he began working in his family firm. He served in a variety of positions, including Chairman of Clinique Laboratories. He was also on the Board of Directors of Estée Lauder from 1968 to 1986, from 1988 to July 2009, and from 2016 to 2025.
Lauder served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and Nato policy from 1983 to 1986. That year, then US President Ronald Reagan appointed Lauder as the Ambassador to Austria. Ronald founded the Lauder Foundation after his posting abroad.
The organisation is focused on providing resources to Jewish schools, camps and community centres. It currently operates over 50 programmes across 13 nations, including Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine.
Ronald Lauder has held several positions in the company, including Chairman of Clinique Laboratories. He was also on the Board of Directors of Estée Lauder for multiple terms. Reuters
In 1989, Ronald made an unsuccessful bid for Mayor of New York. Ronald is also President of the World Jewish Congress. Ronald married Jo Carole Knopf in July 1967. They have two children, Aerin and Jane. The family lives in New York.
Ronald stepped down from the company’s Board of Directors in January 2025. However, he remains Chairman of Clinique Laboratories.
Ronald’s involvement in the Greenland idea
Ronald has known Trump for decades. According to reports, the two men first met at the Wharton Business School.
According to Bolton, it was Ronald in 2018, when Trump was in his first term, who pushed the President to acquire Greenland. “Trump called me down to the Oval Office,” Bolton said to The Guardian. “He said a prominent businessman had just suggested the US buy Greenland.”
While many were mocking Trump for his interest in Greenland in 2018, Ronald called Trump “a man of incredible insight and intelligence”.
Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton has said that it was Ronald Lauder who planted the idea of buying Greenland in Trump's mind. AFP
He also took to the pages of the New York Post to defend the idea. “Trump’s Greenland concept was never absurd – it was strategic,” Lauder claimed. “Beneath its ice and rock lies a treasure trove of rare-earth elements essential for AI, advanced weaponry and modern technology. As ice recedes, new maritime routes are emerging, reshaping global trade and security.”
With Greenland at “the epicentre of great-power competition”, Lauder said the US should seek a “strategic partnership. I have worked closely with Greenland’s business and government leaders for years to develop strategic investments there.”
Lauder also offered himself up as an intermediary between the United States and Denmark, which caused a short-lived rift during Trump’s first term.
An investor in Greenland
According to The Guardian, Ronald has been investing in Greenland since first directing Trump’s attention to the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
According to corporate records obtained from Denmark, a firm with a New York address and unnamed owners has been investing in the territory.
Ronald’s investments in Greenland include boutique drinks firm Greenland Water Bank. His business partner, Jørgen Wæver Johansen, is a local branch head of a political party in Nuuk and is married to Greenland’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Vivian Motzfeldt.
Svend Hardenberg, a businessman from Greenland involved in the venture, told Politiken newspaper that “Lauder and his colleagues in the investor group have a very good understanding of and access to the luxury market.”
“The investment is not the most important thing for us, but rather gaining better access to the luxury market where our water should be a natural part,” Hardenberg added.
Ronald has also invested in Greenland Development Partners, a Delaware-registered investor consortium that has bought into Greenland Investment Group. This firm has shown interest in bidding for a major hydropower project at Lake Tasersiaq, Greenland’s largest lake.
A man sits on a bench by the sea at Nuuk's old harbour, Greenland, January 13, 2026. File Image/Reuters
Some have tried to play the investments down. Asked by a local Nuuk newspaper about the relationship with Ronald, Johansen said: “I think someone is trying to make something out of nothing.”
However, others are more alarmed.
“We should not be naive,” Marc Jacobsen, Associate Professor at the Institute for Strategy and War Studies at the Royal Danish Defence College, told the Irish Times. “Whether these investments ultimately prove profitable is of secondary importance. What matters more is gaining access to the Greenlandic elite and shaping the narrative that the US is a better partner than Denmark.”
“There is reason to be on guard,” Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard of the Danish Institute for International Studies told Politiken. “Especially when it involves a man like Ronald Lauder.”
Trump on Wednesday reiterated that the US “needs” Greenland and that Denmark cannot be relied upon to protect the island. He said “something will work out” with respect to the future governance of the Danish overseas territory.
The remark, which came after a high-stakes meeting between US, Danish and Greenlandic officials, shows that there are still fundamental, if not intractable, differences between how Washington, Copenhagen and Nuuk see the political future of the island.
This came as European countries sent small numbers of military personnel to Greenland on Thursday, as Denmark said it was pressing on with plans for a “larger and more permanent” Nato presence to secure the island.
Trump has claimed that the strategically located and mineral-rich island is vital to US security and has not ruled out the use of force to take it. Greenland and Denmark say it is not for sale and that threats of force are reckless.
Prominent EU countries have backed Denmark, warning that a US military seizure of a territory in Nato could spell the end of the military alliance that Washington leads.
With inputs from agencies
