Why Trump's Greenland Threats Put Chilly Fjords at Risk

Trump Threats Cast Ominous Shadow Over Icy Fjords of Greenland

The sun is rising over the ice-covered mountains of Nuuk fjord and we are travelling along one of the world's last wild frontiers. But there are shadows gathering here and across the rest of the frozen spaces of Greenland. With Donald Trump about to become president of the United States, his refusal to rule out taking Greenland by force is reverberating through conversations across the island.

Local Reactions

"He's welcome to come visit for sure," says the skipper of the converted fishing boat taking us east. Conscious that he needs to do business with people of all political hues, he asked not to be named, but used a phrase I hear repeatedly here. "Greenland belongs to Greenlanders. So, Trump can visit but that's it."

The waters are flat calm as we pull into the isolated settlement of Kapisillit - population about 40 - where a few hunters are setting out to shoot seals. It's -16C (3F), and with wind chill effect feels more like -27C. But near the harbour I meet a local church elder, Kaaleeraq Ringsted, 73, a great-grandfather, who is out drying fillets of cod caught in the fish-rich waters beside his front door.

Local Resistance

When I ask about President-elect Trump buying or invading Greenland, he chuckles at first. Then his tone becomes serious. "It is not acceptable that he says this. Greenland is not for sale." Then he tells me how he learned to fish and hunt here with his father and grandfather, and how he wants to preserve this life for his children and grandchildren.

Crossing the bay, the boat nosed through the broken surface ice. Two eagles perched on a rock, scanning for fish in the clear waters. We were heading to the farm of Angutimmarik Hansen who keeps sheep as well as hunting seals, wildfowl and rabbits. All of his winter feed for the sheep needs to be imported from Denmark, a reminder of how a harsh climate defines the possibilities of life here.

Greenland's Independence

This little farm is about 3,000 miles (4,828km) from Florida where the incoming US president gave his now infamous press conference last week. "But Trump is not the USA. We can work with the people of the USA," Mr Hansen says.

Local Concerns

The Trump effect went into overdrive with the arrival in Greenland of Donald Trump Jr, hot on the heels of his father's pronouncements. He flew into the capital Nuuk on the family's 737 jet - Trump Force One - and stayed for four hours and thirty-three minutes, meeting some locals and offering only polite remarks.

The city of Nuuk is the world's most northerly capital. It has a thriving civil society and a robust press. And there is some satisfaction here that the Trump comments have propelled the debate about Greenland's independence onto the international stage.

Desire for Sovereignty

There must be a Greenland that is nobody's colony, say campaigners like Kuno Fencker, an MP with the governing coalition and member of the local parliament's Foreign and Security Committee. We meet by the harbour, under the bronze statue of Hans Egede, the 18th century missionary widely seen here as the man who opened the way to colonisation.

Kuno Fencker wants Greenland to negotiate directly with the US, rather than through Denmark. "Donald Trump is a politician," says Mr Fencker. "He's a hard businessman, and we know his rhetoric, and that rhetoric is something we have gotten used to since 2019, and it's just a matter of talking to a peer, an ally, on how we can solve things here in the Arctic and also in Nato."

Challenges and Future

Independence from Denmark could come at a significant financial cost. Greenland receives subsidies from Copenhagen worth roughly a fifth of its GDP every year. Mr Fencker suggests, as have other leading figures here, that the island would negotiate with America and Denmark for support.

The editor of the local newspaper Sermitsiaq, Maasana Egede, admits he was worried by the implied threat of force from Donald Trump, but wants to see how reality matches the rhetoric.

Acknowledging the Past

Maliina Abelsen is a former finance minister in Greenland's government, and now a consultant for companies and organisations working on the island. She's also worked on the board of the UN Development Organisation and leading Greenland businesses, like the seafood group, Royal Greenland.

Ms Abelsen believes far more needs to be done to address the injustices of the past. "I think a lot of people are saying, maybe also the Danish government and state have said, 'Oh well, you know this happened in the past. This is so many years ago. How are we going to be responsible for that? It's time to move on.'"

Conclusion

The issues of self-determination and facing the past are intimately intertwined. Now the intervention of Donald Trump has placed both before the eyes of the world. But the message we heard - from the remote settlements on the fjord to the capital city Nuuk - is that Greenland's destiny must be decided here, among people whose voices have been too long overlooked.