Thomas Dans: Trump Appointee’s Arctic Controversies & Conflicts of Interest

Thomas Dans, a Trump appointee to the Arctic Commission with no scientific background, advanced controversial policies like a Greenland takeover and promoted a Dutch shipbuilder with Russia ties, raising serious conflict-of-interest concerns and straining international relations.

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Whether Dans has other organization ties that can impact his government job is uncertain. When at the Treasury, he reported holding a risk in Worldwide Restaurant Administration LLC, the parent firm of a firm that ran several Papa Johns restaurants in Russia at the time. The condition of that investment– which Dans reported had a worth of in between $250,000 and $500,000– isn’t openly understood today since he’s no longer required to divulge his economic interests.

Probably because of that job, Trump called Dans to the Arctic Research Study Compensation for the first time in late 2020. His tenure was short-term. When Head of state Joe Biden took office in 2021, the new administration fired Dans and three other Trump appointees.

Trump Appoints Controversial Arctic Commission Chair

That was until December, when President Donald Trump assigned a Texas venture capitalist and MAGA influencer without any formal background in scientific research as the commission’s chair. Since then, Thomas Dans has traveled the world generating headlines. Working as the management’s primary voice on the Arctic, he’s advanced a few of the president’s wildest aspirations, like a takeover of Greenland, and rankled NATO allies while doing so.

At a public look in July, Dans mentioned the compensation’s four top priorities: armed forces and nationwide safety, energy safety and security, economic development in the Arctic and “what we’ll call ‘area safety and security.'” He did not define the term.

Dans launched a financial investment firm with 2 various other previous Trump Treasury officials, yet it was brief, closing in late 2023. That year, Dans stated on Substack that he was the “initial American” to release an effort to purchase the Helsinki Shipyard in Finland, where concerning half the worldwide icebreaker fleet was constructed.

Dans’ repost on X of a Kazakh media electrical outlet. The post checks out: “Putin warned that supplies of ‘Tomahawk’ projectiles to Kyiv would certainly damage relations in between Russia and the USA.” Screenshot by ProPublica.

Posting “Happy Success Day” in Russian might appear innocuous, but it is “a super-loaded thing to do today,” she added. Putin has conjured Russia’s The second world war success when talking about Ukraine, even corresponding Ukrainians to Nazis in Germany.

At the time, Dutch prosecutors were exploring the business for supplying Russia with tools that they stated can be utilized for army functions, in infraction of European assents. In his article, Dans shared an image of himself arm-in-arm with 3 high-level business execs, including Rutger Dolk, that was later on detained by Dutch authorities as component of the probe. The case is ongoing. (Dolk did not respond to a request for remark. In response to inquiries, Damen shared a press release that claimed it “has constantly acted based on the suitable sanctions plans which full transparency has actually been exercised about its activities.”).

In very early January 2025, Dans and American Daybreak aided prepare a visit by Donald Trump Jr. and late conservative protestor Charlie Kirk to the Arctic island. Dans additionally employed Greenland’s most outspoken MAGA lover, a bricklayer called Jørgen Boassen, whom Dans has actually called a “excellent pal,” to produce support for United state control of Greenland.

Dans declined several demands to be interviewed for this story and did not reply to created inquiries from ProPublica, but he informed The New York Times this year that his message did not prevent him from operating in personal company.

Dans’ Public Stances & Unregulated Role

Unlike many top-level governmental appointees, the Arctic commission chair– who is qualified just for a gratuity of as much as regarding $55,000 a year– is not a government worker under the law. And while the compensation has a policy seeking to avoid problems of rate of interest, there are no charges for violating it.

He took a trip the world, talking with officials in locations like Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Romania. He created plan recommendations “for Ukraine’s postwar repair” as a going to fellow at the conventional Heritage Structure, his LinkedIn account states.

Ever since, Dans has promoted Damen in conversations and at a public look. In April, he claimed that “beyond the commission, I use a hat benefiting among the world’s biggest shipbuilders, which is a team called Damen.”.

Dans, whose working as a consultant Almiranta Approaches “recommends companies and investors operating in the Arctic,” according to his account on the Arctic commission’s website, is far from the very first in the Trump management to mingle personal and public interests. The finances of numerous senior authorities and the markets they regulate have actually drawn analysis as Trump has deactivated federal government safeguards versus disputes.

Under the regulation, Dans’ position provides him accessibility to government details from other federal firms– a setup that can profit his private rate of interests. The nature of Dans’ role manages him much more leeway than various other appointees.

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Pro-Kremlin Views & Russian Connections

In Might, he composed of his grandpa’s involvement in the risky Murmansk Go to provide the Soviet Union during The Second World War. “Happy Victory Day,” Dans wrote in Russian and English, reposting a video clip of Putin from Russian state media laying flowers at a soldiers’ memorial. The original poster of the video clip has been called a resource of Russian publicity by the Ukrainian government.

Believing so generally on diplomacy is “far beyond” the Arctic Research study Compensation’s clinical required, claimed Fran Ulmer, that functioned as payment chair for more than nine years prior to being replaced by Trump in 2020. “And absolutely outside the bounds of what the U.S. Arctic Study Payment has done in the past.”

As he’s spoken with audiences of federal government authorities, mediators, journalists and academics, Dans– who uses his Arctic compensation lapel pin and exudes a professorial air– has likewise waded into foreign policy.

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Dans’ outdoors dedications can be problematic if he used his access to the federal government to poorly profit another company or nation, claimed Virginia Canter, that served as a principles lawyer at the White House and various other companies throughout Republican and Autonomous presidencies.

Advocating for Icebreakers & Greenland

He has consistently claimed, for instance, that the U.S. needs more icebreakers, ships that Trump has viewpoint as important to controling the Arctic. In doing so, Dans has actually promoted one shipbuilder in particular– Damen Shipyards, a Dutch business with which he had a business relationship.

“Tom Dans is doing a fantastic job leading the Arctic Research Payment, and his shipbuilding know-how has assisted him prosper in this function,” claimed White Residence representative Anna Kelly. “The President values all he is doing to advance American passions in the Arctic.”

In the media and at public occasions, he’s backed Trump’s push to take control of Greenland. And he’s supported enthusiastically for closer united state connections with Russia– even as a bipartisan team of legislators asks for tougher sanctions on the country and more help to Ukraine. Damen and dans have long done business in Russia, and Dans has actually regularly shared social media sites messages that mirror a pro-Kremlin viewpoint.

Under Putin, Russia has actually tied its future to the Arctic and the region’s natural resources, including dissolved gas. U.S. sanctions, which targeted the nation’s energy industry, have actually set those initiatives back– something that Russia has actually sought to reverse in recurring talks with the Trump administration.

A nuclear powered Russian icebreaker in the port of Murmansk after conducting ice trials in the Arctic Ocean in 2020. The Arctic’s melting ice has geopolitical consequences, with Russia and China carrying out joint armed forces workouts in the region.Pavel Lvov/Sputnik by means of AP

He claimed at a recent meeting he is not involved in talks amongst negotiators for the U.S., Greenland and Denmark that started earlier this year. In May, Trump’s unique agent to Greenland, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, and the U.S. ambassador to Denmark, Ken Howery, attended a business meeting in the capital of Nuuk without Dans.

He was a constant guest on traditional protestor and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s “Battle Area” podcast. He represented one episode from Romania, connecting reactionary Romanian governmental candidate George Simion (that was later on seen with Republicans at the Kennedy Center reducing up a cake shaped like Greenland with American flag icing). “There’s a phenomenon below that’s the silent George Simion citizen, type of like your quiet Trump voter,” Dans told Bannon. “And that’s substantial.” (Simion lost and afterward unsuccessfully looked for to have the election annulled.).

Asked about Dans’ calls for cooperation, Kelly, the White Residence representative, claimed: “Head of state Trump and his whole administration want to work with anybody in order to progress American rate of interests, including peace in the Russia-Ukraine Battle. This strategy has actually helped the USA bring both sides of the conflict together for historic peace negotiation.”.

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A White Home official informed ProPublica that Greenland is “important from the viewpoint of U.S. national safety” and “we are extremely positive that we get on an excellent trajectory” in the polite talks. The official did not resolve Dans’ role.

Damen Shipyards & Ethics Concerns

If Dans was looking for to progress Damen’s interests, he may have been required under the regulation to sign up either as a powerbroker or a foreign agent, claimed Josh Rosenstein, an attorney that is an expert on the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Documents show he ‘d done neither.

By August of in 2015, Dans discovered an additional opportunity in the economic sector. He published on LinkedIn that he was “very delighted to introduce that I am collaborating with Damen Shipyards Team, one of the world’s leading shipbuilders.”.

He did not return to Greenland. The nation sent soldiers to Greenland armed with strategies and explosives to blow up landing fields in the event of an American invasion.

He worked at a personal equity fund financed by the united state Company for International Advancement, which intended to expand the economic sector after the Soviet Union’s breakup. In a LinkedIn article in 2014, he thought back concerning just how he and Kirill Dmitriev, a Harvard-educated lender that currently works as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intermediary with Trump officials, took a trip in the very same circles early in their money professions.

Dans’ LinkedIn post introducing his work with Damen Shipyards. Dutch district attorneys were exploring the company at the time for supplying Russia with tools that might have been made use of for army purposes. Rutger Dolk, far right, a business exec, was later on detained as part of the probe. Screenshot and redactions by ProPublica.

A month into Dans’ period as compensation chair, Trump said he would take Greenland “one way or the other.” He initially declined to rule out armed forces force. Dans echoed Trump, telling the BBC that month that “every little thing’s on the table.”.

Dans seemed to minimize any distinctions with the Trump administration over Russia in one recent look, where he informed an audience that consisted of State Division officials, Russian Consular office personnel and Greenlandic diplomats that “getting Russia-Ukraine war ended, I think, is a concern. Stopping the killing.”.

Russian Head of state Vladimir Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev last year. Dans has actually thought back on social networks about operating in similar circles as Dmitriev after the autumn of the Soviet Union.Dmitri Lovetsky/AP

Main check outs to Russia have actually been exceedingly unusual considering that the united state and its European allies iced up ties with the country after it got into Ukraine in 2022, yet at his appearance in Anchorage in April Dans revealed that he was preparing to visit Moscow “probably in the next month” to go over study collaboration. The journey never ever occurred; the State Division’s official support on Russia is “Do Not Traveling for Any Type Of Factor.”.

International Backlash & Past Influence

While Dans is a small player in the federal government, “when he talks, worldwide audiences and authorities see him as representing U.S. plan,” claimed Heather Conley, an elderly fellow at the American Venture Institute. In his very first five months as chair, Dans spoke commonly to the foreign press and traveled to locations that consisted of Denmark, Norway, Italy and Canada– in addition to Mar-a-Lago in Florida and the Traveler’s Club in New york city City, records show. The compensation spent concerning $87,000 on his travel expenses.

Years later on, in Trump’s initial term as president, Dans landed a task in the Treasury Department as an elderly policy adviser for international affairs. There, he offered on a secret National Safety Council task force on U.S. control of Greenland, a role initially reported by The New Yorker. A previous Trump administration authorities informed ProPublica the team’s objective was to enhance the USA’ calculated placement in Greenland and devise plans to bring both closer.

Dans’ remarks only appear to have more deepened divisions. A previous chairman of the Arctic Research Study Compensation, Michael Sfraga, was at the very same conference and openly told the politician to “tear the check up.”.

Decades later, in Trump’s first term as head of state, Dans landed a work in the Treasury Department as an elderly policy advisor for worldwide events. Maybe because of that work, Trump called Dans to the Arctic Study Payment for the first time in late 2020. In early January 2025, Dans and American Sunrise helped organize a browse through by Donald Trump Jr. and late conventional activist Charlie Kirk to the Arctic island. “There’s a phenomenon right here that’s the silent George Simion voter, kind of like your quiet Trump voter,” Dans told Bannon. In May, Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, and the U.S. ambassador to Denmark, Ken Howery, went to a service meeting in the funding of Nuuk without Dans.

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“We’re older currently and have some grey hair, but it’s neat to see that the Trump Management is discussing with,” Dans composed of Dmitriev, who rose to head one of Russia’s sovereign wealth funds before being approved by the Biden Treasury Division in 2022 for his ties to Putin and function elevating funds from the united state

Arctic Commission’s Importance & Dans’ Vision

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In December, Trump appointed Dans to head the Arctic Study Commission. The news said Dans’ key emphasis as an entrepreneur was “shipbuilding and transport where, among other projects, he is leading an initiative to establish icebreakers and ice-class vessels for the United States while helping recover America’s Maritime Base.”.

The Arctic commission has actually arguably never been a lot more vital. The area is warming at unprecedented rates, increasing sea-level increase and causing serious weather in the U.S. and in other places. Russia and China are performing joint army exercises in the much north.

His desire dates back at the very least to seventh grade, when he says he was hired to find out Russian in his Maryland public college. He later on checked out Moscow as an exchange pupil, after that returned to work in financing in the mid-1990s.

Dans said he was working with the shipbuilder “to bring several of the very best icebreakers on the planet to the USA” and kept in mind that the U.S. Navy had actually just recently chosen Damen “to assist it fast-track a brand-new fleet” of a various type of vessel: as much as 35 medium-sized ships to relocate soldiers and supplies to shorelines. According to documents, the Navy got the designs for the ship from Damen for $3.3 million without going through the normal bidding process, saying it would certainly save time and money to choose a “tried and tested” style. (The Navy did not reply to ask for remark.).

For greater than 40 years, the united state Arctic Research study Commission has actually advised Congress and the president on what to research in the vibrant and cold far north, from the setting to armed forces security. It’s normally done so without making waves, led by people well-versed in scientific research and public law.

“We were discharged without notice and anonymously slandered by the White Residence for ‘lacking relevant proficiency,'” he wrote in The Hill. “At the time, I was the very first commissioner in the firm’s 37-year history to speak well-versed Russian, the language of the globe’s biggest Arctic nation.”

The unsupported claims has actually had effects for Arctic research study. Several Danish scientists claimed they will no longer join research with the united state. One kept in mind that her colleagues stayed clear of Dans at a current meeting.

“They’re the biggest building contractor of icebreakers and ice-class vessels worldwide,” Dans stated at an event in Anchorage, Alaska, in April. At the time, his consultancy was functioning to assist Damen land an icebreaker agreement with the federal government.