Ole Jurgen Hameken was at sea far inside the Arctic Circle when an Inuit elder found an old, crumpled business card in the pocket of his sealskin coat that had weathered blizzards and storms for nearly a decade. It was owned by Donald Trump Jr.
The younger Trump met Hamiken in 2016, hoping the Greenland-based and veteran polar explorer would take him hunting musk ox with a bow and arrow in the far north of the island. 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 on the scene Greenland.
Trump Jr. arrived in the capital, Nuuk, for a surprise five-hour visit this week, shortly after Donald TrumpHe, who is set to become US president again soon, has said he wants to buy the island – which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark – and has refused to rule out using military force to do so.
It has thrown the vast, ice-covered land, whose 57,000 people live in some of the coldest and most remote corners of the world, into a geopolitical storm. European Union leaders are struggling to respond to a clear regional threat from a NATO ally.
In Nuuk, where temperatures are below zero most of the year and daylight hours are short in winter, Trump's comments were troubling to many. Many Nuuk residents said Greenlanders tend to shy away from conflict in daily life, and they were shocked by Trump's aggressive tone.
“For some, it was scary,” Hamiken said.
Kubik Kleist, former Greenland prime minister, said many people were offended. They did not enjoy discussing their homeland as a real estate transaction.
“Don't just go and buy a country or a people,” Kleist said.
But Hamiken believes there is a silver lining to Trump's interest in the island.
Many Greenlanders are familiar with the president-elect's style and know not to take him literally, Hameken said. They are happy that it has brought the question of Greenland's future into the global spotlight.
“Now Denmark has to listen,” Hameken said.
Greenland was colonized by Denmark in the 18th century, and has long pushed for increased autonomy. Although it is now an autonomous Danish region with decision-making power on most topics except foreign and security policy, all Greenlanders who spoke to the Financial Times in Nuuk said they wanted more political control.
“Nobody here wants to be part of the United States, but they want more influence on things,” said Paulette Nielsen, a mining consultant from the small group of towns and settlements on Greenland's east coast.
At a café near the old Colonial Harbor area in Nuuk, where a statue of the Danish-Norwegian missionary looms over the fjord and is regularly doused with paint by protesters, Nielsen said Greenland's biggest political fault line lies between those who want more autonomy as part of Denmark. And those who feel Greenland can move forward on its own.
Either way, “Trump has stirred up a lot,” Nielsen said. “Denmark will have to listen to Greenland much more. We have been screaming about this for a long time.”
The Greenlanders gave many reasons for wanting to get rid of Danish rule. Some described personal experiences of discrimination, while others spoke of unequal pensions and wages between Greenlanders and Danes, or disparities in the provision of services such as higher education and health care.
But most of all, people cited recent revelations that Danish doctors in the 1960s placed birth control coils on thousands of Inuit women without their consent, an act that Greenland's Prime Minister Mot Egede described as a form of “genocide.” “.
And on Friday — as the news ticker in central Nuuk repeatedly showed Trump's comments — Egedi He said in a press conference That the island does not want to be part of the United States or Denmark. She wanted independence.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen responded that this was “legitimate and understandable.”
Hameken said the exchange showed that “the balance between Greenland and Denmark has changed tremendously 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 move forward on its own. This issue is expected to dominate the upcoming elections scheduled for the spring.
“When people talk about independence, I don't quite understand what that means,” said John Hansen, a musician in Nuuk. Despite his strong sense of local identity — Hansen has compiled a book of Greenlandic poetry and songs — the artist said independence supporters had no plan.
Greenland, the world's largest island, remains financially dependent on Denmark, with 53% of its budget in 2024 consisting of a direct grant from Copenhagen. “How to replace that is a mystery to me,” Kleist said.
“We only live off the sea at the moment, and there is little tourism,” he said. Fishing accounts for 90 percent of Greenland's exports, and the industry is the second largest employer after the state.
Nielsen said Greenland is “very small and very weak” and needs “other areas to be strengthened.”
One of those areas should be Miningsaid people in Greenland's business community.
Although many international companies have licenses to drill, and the island is rich in valuable rare earth minerals, few projects have come to fruition due to government regulation and the logistical challenges presented by the landscape.
Trump's comments have boosted the share prices of some domestic mining projects in recent days, with one industry insider describing a feeling of a “gold rush” in the air.
In the snow-covered port of Nuuk, where small fishing boats and trawlers cut their way through pieces of floating ice to reach the sea, fishermen laughed at the idea of joining the United States. But they said there was value in diversifying Greenland's trade.
“In fisheries, we think about wanting to sell to America, not just Denmark,” Pavia Rasmussen said over a breakfast of raw seal meat at a pier-side club. “We think this could mean a better price for the fish.”
Nils, another fisherman, said more trade freedom could also mean cheaper food imports from the United States. “Food from Denmark is very expensive.”
The men said climate change was making the work of hunters in Greenland more difficult. They are already navigating the turbulent weather and long winter nights. Ulrich, head of a fish processing plant and fishing vessels, said the melting ice caps were now affecting fish supplies.
These same climate changes open Arctic waters to greater navigation and thus competition for natural resources. Ulrich felt Greenland was caught in the middle of Trump's “big game with Russia and China.”
Trump cited US national security as the main reason behind his desire for Greenland, which is home to a major US military base.
Greenlanders who hope for independence said they realize that the island is unable to provide for its own defense. But they believed that military support, as well as trade deals, could come from many quarters.
“Greenland is at the point where it wants to have options,” the former government official said, adding that politicians were “wooing” a lot of countries, including talking to the UK.
Trump Jr.'s visit to Nuuk this week only lasted a few hours, but it kept residents talking for days. Local media reported that some people seen wearing “Make America Great Again” hats at a meeting were drawn there by the promise of free food at an expensive restaurant.
But even the local coordinator of the trip — Jørgen Boassen, a Greenlandic construction worker and MAGA fan who knocked on Trump's doors in the US during the election campaign — told Norwegian outlet VG that Trump's comments about wanting to buy Greenland should be “taken into account.” A pinch of salt.”
It was about the message you sent.
He added: “He came here to show Russia and China that Trump is here.”
