NUUK, Greenland (AP) \u2014 On a boat, surrounded by snow-covered mountains and icebergs in shades of blue, Qooqu Berthelsen points to the breaking sea ice as a worrisome sign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, though, something is worrying him and many Greenlanders as much as the retreating ice that endangers their livelihood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy concern,\u201d says the 23-year-old hunter, fisher and tour company owner, \u201cis that Trump will come and take Greenland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He then repeats what has become a mantra for Greenlanders in the weeks since U.S. President Donald Trump pushed their Arctic homeland into the spotlight<\/a> by threatening to take it over. That has ignited unprecedented interest in full independence from Denmark \u2014 a key issue in a parliamentary election on March 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGreenlanders don\u2019t want to be Danish. Greenlanders don\u2019t want to be American,\u201d Berthelsen says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGreenland,\u201d he says, \u201cis not for sale.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll hear this declared all over the land, from the prime minister<\/a> and university students in Nuuk, the world\u2019s northernmost capital, to hunters and fishermen in sparsely populated villages across the planet\u2019s largest island. This is, after all, Kalaallit Nunaat \u2014 Greenlandic for the \u201cLand of the People\u201d or the \u201cLand of the Greenlanders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of those 57,000 Greenlanders are Indigenous Inuit. They take pride in a culture and traditions that have helped them survive for centuries in exceptionally rugged conditions. In their close link to nature. In belonging to one of the most beautiful, remote, untouched places on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many in this semi-autonomous territory are worried and offended by Trump\u2019s threats to seize control<\/a> of their mineral-rich homeland, even by force, because he says the U.S. needs it \u201cfor national security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow can a few words \u2026 change the whole world?\u201d asked Aqqaluk Lynge, a former president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and founder of the Inuit Ataqatigiit party, which governs Greenland. \u201cIt can because he\u2019s playing with fire. We\u2019re seeing another United States here with whole new ideas and wishes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Greenland is vital to the world, though much of the world may not realize it. The U.S and other global powers covet<\/a> its strategic location in the Arctic; its valuable rare earth minerals trapped under the ice needed for telecommunications; its billions of barrels of oil; its potential for shipping and trade routes as that ice keeps retreating because of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not even one of Trump\u2019s most fervent fans in Greenland \u2014 who proudly wears a MAGA hat, and a T-shirt emblazoned with Trump pumping his fist and the words: \u201cAmerican Badass\u201d \u2014 wants to be American.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But like other Greenlanders, he wants stronger ties to the U.S. and to open for business beyond Denmark, which colonized them 300 years ago and still exercises control over foreign and defense policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen Trump came to office, he wanted to talk to Greenlanders directly without going through Denmark. He wants to negotiate with us and that\u2019s why the Danish are very afraid,\u201d said J\u00f8rgen Boassen, who has visited the White House and welcomed Donald Trump Jr. when he recently visited Nuuk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The American president\u2019s comments set off a political crisis in Denmark. The prime minister went on a tour of European capitals<\/a> to garner support, saying the continent faced \u201ca more uncertain reality,\u201d while her country moved to strengthen its military presence around Greenland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For some, it\u2019s been dizzying, a rollercoaster of emotions since Trump\u2019s threats, since his son landed in Nuuk in January in a TRUMP-emblazoned plane and since his father posted on social media: \u201cMAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!\u201d with a message to Greenlanders: \u201cWe\u2019re going to treat you well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen that was happening, I felt like I was hit in the stomach,\u201d said Qupanuk Olsen, a mining engineer and social media influencer running in the election for the Naleraq party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Around her, supporters gathered at a bay filled with giant pieces of ice in Nuuk waving the red and white national flag that represents the sun and the ice that covers most of Greenland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI could feel that the ground will no longer ever be the same again,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s as if we were on sea ice and it started to break, and we don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Journalists from afar have descended on Nuuk, asking locals what they think of Trump\u2019s words. Pro-Trump media influencers known as the Nelk Boys arrived handing out MAGA hats and $100 bills to children in Nuuk\u2019s streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEven though there are strong feelings of sadness, despair, confusion, I think we\u2019re also stronger than ever. We\u2019re fighting it for our people and that gives me hope,\u201d said Aka Hansen, an Inuk filmmaker and writer. She is suspicious of Trump\u2019s intentions but still thanks him for turning the world\u2019s attention to her homeland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe went through all the emotions \u2014 at first very funny, very light, then very serious,\u201d said Hansen, who worked with Conan O\u2019Brien when the comedian came to Nuuk in 2019 to shoot an episode poking fun at Trump\u2019s idea of buying Greenland. \u201cNow, with all the international press that\u2019s been here, we\u2019ve been given a voice that\u2019s being taken seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like many other Greenlanders, she doesn\u2019t want to be ruled by another colonial power. But she feels Trump\u2019s rhetoric has increased the momentum for independence from Denmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The former colonial ruler is accused of committing abuses against her island\u2019s Inuit people, including removing children from their families in the 1950s with the excuse of integrating them into Danish society and fitting women with intrauterine contraceptive devices<\/a> in the 1960s and 1970s \u2014 allegedly to limit population growth in Greenland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a historic moment for Greenland … compared to two months ago when nobody was talking about independence,\u201d Olsen said. \u201cNow, everybody\u2019s talking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A former colony of Denmark, Greenland gained self-rule in 1979 and now runs itself through its parliament. A treaty with the United States, and a U.S. military base in Greenland<\/a>, also gives Washington say over the territory\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Greenland is massive \u2014 about one-fifth the size of the United States or three times the size of Texas. Its land mass is in North America, and its Arctic capital city is closer to New York than to Copenhagen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDenmark is just a middle man in that whole setup. And we don\u2019t need that middle man anymore,\u201d said Juno Berthelsen, a candidate in the election for Naleraq party. He says Trump has given Greenland leverage to negotiate with Denmark. \u201cOur political goal is to have our own defense agreement, so that we connect directly with the U.S. in terms of defense and security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His party, he said, aims to invoke an article in a law that would give Greenland increased autonomy and eventually a path to full independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked to describe Greenland\u2019s moment, he said: \u201cIf I had to pick one word, it would be exciting. And full of opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his first term in office, Trump began to talk about acquiring Greenland<\/a> from Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally. Back in 2019, most dismissed it. But it had a ripple effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was not taken that seriously back then as it is today. But it was important for Greenland because he, without wanting, did Greenlanders a favor,\u201d said Ebbe Volquardsen, a professor of cultural history at the University of Greenland. \u201cHe underlined the value of being in a union with Greenland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rich in rare-earth minerals and strategically located as a gateway to the Arctic, the Danish territory has attracted the threat of U.S. annexation by President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Greenland\u2019s economy depends on fisheries and other industries as well as on an annual grant of about $600 million from Denmark. When Trump showed interest in buying Greenland because of its strategic location and mineral resources, he highlighted that annual sum as the amount of what other nations would be willing to pay to have a military or commercial presence in Greenland, Volquardsen said. With that, he gave Greenland leverage for more autonomy and possible reparations for abuses committed by its former colonial ruler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat was important because the narrative in Denmark until that date \u2026 had been that Greenland is receiving this funding as a kind of aid or altruistic gift,\u201d Volquardsen, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Life in Nuuk seemed to go on as usual in mid-February, except for a \u201cheat wave.\u201d After weeks of subzero temperatures, it made the capital of Greenland several degrees hotter than Washington, D.C., the U.S. capital<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a rising argument about a strategic location<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s consternation all around<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Is autonomy the way?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Greenland\u2019s strategic value draws US interest<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Greenland awaits the next steps \u2014 of others<\/h2>\n\n\n\n