Greenland falls into a geopolitical storm

Ole Jørgen Hammeken was at sea far inside the Arctic Circle when the Inuit elder found a crumpled old business card in the pocket of his sealskin coat that had survived nearly a decade of blizzards and storms. It belongs to Donald Trump Jr.

Young Trump met Hammeken in 2016, hoping the Greenland resident and veteran polar explorer would take him bow-hunting musk oxen at the island’s northern tip. But then his father ran for president of the United States and the trip failed.

Now, nearly a decade later, the Trump family is back Greenland.

Trump Jr. arrived in the capital Nuuk for a surprise five-hour visit this week, shortly after Donald Trumpset to become US president again, has said he wants to buy the island – part of the Danish kingdom – and refused to rule out using military force to do so.

It has thrown the vast, ice-covered landmass, where 57,000 people live in some of the coldest and most remote places in the world, into a geopolitical storm. EU leaders are having difficulty responding to a clear territorial threat from a NATO ally.

In Nuuk, where temperatures are below zero for much of the year and daylight hours in winter are short, Trump’s comments worried many people. Some Nuuk residents said Greenlanders tend to avoid conflict in daily life and were shocked by Trump’s aggressive tone.

“For some people, it’s scary,” Hammeken said.

Kuupik Kleist, former prime minister of Greenland, said many people felt offended. They don’t like their hometown being discussed like a real estate deal.

“You don’t just buy a country or its people,” Kleist said.

But Hammeken believes Trump’s interest in the island has a positive side.

Hammeken said many Greenlanders are familiar with the president-elect’s style and do not take him literally. They are happy that he has brought the question of Greenland’s future into the global spotlight.

“Now Denmark must listen,” Hammeken said.

An 18th-century Danish colony, Greenland has long lobbied for greater autonomy. Although it is now an autonomous Danish territory and has decision-making powers on most issues except foreign and security policy, all the Greenlanders who spoke to the FT in Nuuk were said they wanted more political control.

“No one here wants to be part of the United States, but they want more influence,” said Bolette Nielsen, a mining consultant from a cluster of tiny towns and settlements on Greenland’s east coast. more enjoyment of everything.”

At a cafe near Nuuk’s old Colonial Harbor district, where a statue of a Danish-Norwegian missionary towers over the fjord and is regularly spray-painted by protesters, Nielsen said the political boundaries Greenland’s largest lie among those who want more autonomy as part of Denmark. and those who feel Greenland is perfectly doable on their own.

Regardless, “Trump has caused a lot of things,” Nielsen said. “Denmark will have to listen more to Greenland. We have been crying out for this for so long.”

Greenlanders give many reasons for wanting to escape Danish rule. Some describe personal experiences of discrimination, while others talk about inequalities in pensions and pay between Greenlanders and Danes, or disparities in the provision of services. services such as higher education and health care.

Most of all, however, people cite recent revelations that in the 1960s, Danish doctors inserted IUDs into thousands of Inuit women without their consent, an act that Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Egede has described it as a form of “genocide”.

On Friday — when a bulletin board in central Nuuk repeatedly broadcast Trump’s comments — Egede said at a press conference that the island does not want to be part of the United States or Denmark. It wants independence.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen replied that this was “legal and understandable”.

Hammeken said the exchange showed that “the balance between Greenland and Denmark has changed a lot in just the last few days,” thanks to Trump.

But many Greenlanders believe the island does not have a strong enough economy to cut ties with Copenhagen and go it alone. The issue is expected to dominate the next election in the spring.

“When people talk about independence, I don’t fully understand what it means,” said John Hansen, a musician in Nuuk. Despite feeling strongly about his local identity – Hansen has compiled a book of Greenlandic poetry and songs – the artist said independence advocates have no plan.

Greenland, the world’s largest island, remains financially dependent on Denmark, with 53% of its budget in 2024 coming from direct subsidies from Copenhagen. “How it will be replaced is a mystery to me,” Kleist said.

“Currently we just live off the sea and a little tourism,” he said. Fishing accounts for 90% of Greenland’s exports and the industry is the second largest employer after the state.

Nielsen said Greenland was “too small and too vulnerable” and needed to “strengthen other areas.”

One of those fields must be miningsaid those in the Greenland business community.

Although many international companies have mining licenses and the island is rich in valuable rare earth minerals, few projects have come to fruition due to government regulations and logistical challenges due to the landscape. set out.

Trump’s comments have boosted the share prices of several local mining projects in recent days, with one industry insider describing a sense of “gold fever” taking hold.

At the snow-covered port of Nuuk, where small trawlers and trawlers cut their way through icebergs to the sea, fishermen giggle at the idea of ​​joining the United States. But they say there is value in diversifying Greenland’s trade.

“In the seafood sector, we thought about wanting to sell to the US, not just to Denmark,” said Pavia Rasmussen as he ate a breakfast of live seal meat at a club next to the docks. “We think that could lead to better fish prices.”

More free trade also means importing food from the US is cheaper, said Nils, another fisherman. “Food from Denmark is very expensive.”

These men say climate change is making the work of Greenland’s fishermen much more difficult. They weathered turbulent weather and long winter nights. Ulrich, head of a fishing and fish processing plant, said the melting ice is now affecting fish supplies.

Similar climate changes are opening up Arctic waters to better navigation and thus competition for natural resources. Ulrich feels Greenland is caught in the middle of “Trump’s big game with Russia and China.”

Trump has cited US national security as the main reason he wants Greenland, where a major US military base is located.

Greenlanders hoping for independence say they realize the island cannot defend itself. But they say military support as well as trade deals could come from many sides.

“Greenland is at a stage where they want options,” the former government official said, adding that politicians are “courting” many countries, including negotiating with the UK.

Trump Jr.’s visit to Nuuk this week lasted only a few hours but made people talk for days. Local media reported that some people wearing ‘Make America Great Again’ hats at a meeting were lured by the promise of free food at an expensive restaurant.

But even the trip’s local coordinator – Jørgen Boassen, a Greenlandic bricklayer and Maga fan who knocked on doors for Trump in the US during the campaign – told Norwegian news agency VG that Trump’s comments about wanting to buy Greenland should be “viewed carefully.” pinch of salt”.

It’s about the message it sent.

“He came here to show Russia and China that Trump is here,” he said.

Cartography by Steven Bernard