Senior U.S. intelligence officials last week directed agencies to collect information on Greenland, reflecting President Trump’s continued push to acquire the resource-rich Arctic territory.

According to top officials who leaked to The Wall Street Journal, a classified “collection emphasis message” was issued by senior aides under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The directive instructed intelligence agencies to gather information on Greenland’s independence movement and to identify individuals who may be supportive of U.S. strategic interests.

A “collection emphasis message” signifies a critical objective for intelligence agencies, whose collection resources consist of surveillance satellites, intercepting electronic communications, and even ground agents.

Gabbard indirectly confirmed the existence of the directive in a statement criticizing the Wall Street Journal, writing: “The Wall Street Journal should be ashamed of aiding deep state actors who seek to undermine the President by politicizing and leaking classified information. They are breaking the law and undermining our nation’s security and democracy.”

The classified directive—distributed to the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, and National Security Agency—represents one of the first concrete steps toward advancing President Trump’s goal of acquiring the mineral-rich and strategically important territory.

National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt would not comment on the leaked intelligence, but did say, “The president has been very clear that the U.S. is concerned about the security of Greenland and the Arctic.”

“We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it,” Trump stated during a March joint address to Congress. “One way or the other, we’re going to get it.”

Vice President J.D. Vance, then–National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited Greenland in March, drawing criticism from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who denounced the visit as “completely unacceptable pressure on Greenland.”

Greenland, spanning roughly 836,000 square miles, is believed to contain around a quarter of the world’s rare-earth minerals vital for modern technologies, as well as an estimated 17.5 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and 148 trillion cubic feet of natural gas—resources that could significantly boost U.S. energy independence.

The intelligence directive comes amid growing geopolitical competition in the Arctic, as China asserts itself as a “near-Arctic state” and Russia continues to expand its military footprint in the region.

Moscow has reactivated Soviet-era Arctic bases and stationed nuclear-capable missiles in its northern territories, while Beijing has poured billions into Arctic infrastructure projects, including efforts to fund airport construction in Greenland, which were ultimately halted by Denmark with backing from the United States.