For greater than 150 years, U.S. officers have repeatedly wished, as President Trump places it, to “get” Greenland.
The thought got here up within the 1860s, then once more earlier than and after the world wars. In a means, the timing couldn’t be better than now, with Greenlanders re-examining their painful colonial historical past below Denmark and many individuals there itching to interrupt off from Denmark, which nonetheless controls a number of the island’s affairs.
However President Trump appears to have overplayed his playing cards — large time.
His determination, introduced this weekend, to ship a high-powered U.S. delegation to the island, apparently uninvited, is already backfiring. The administration tried to current it as a pleasant journey, saying that Usha Vance, the spouse of Vice President JD Vance, would attend a dogsled race this week with one in all her sons and that Michael Waltz, the nationwide safety adviser, would tour an American army base.
However as a substitute of profitable the hearts and minds of Greenland’s 56,000 folks, the transfer, coupled with Mr. Trump’s latest discuss of how he’ll “get it, come what may,” is pushing Greenland additional away.
Over the previous 24 hours, the Greenlandic authorities has dropped its earlier posture of being shy and imprecise within the face of Mr. Trump’s pushiness. As a substitute, it’s blasted him as “aggressive” and requested Europe for backup. And the deliberate go to could solely strengthen the bonds between Greenland — an ice-covered land thrice the scale of Texas — and Denmark.
“It will clearly have the other impact of what the Individuals need,” stated Lars Trier Mogensen, a political analyst primarily based in Copenhagen. “This offensive pushes Greenland additional away from the U.S., regardless that a yr in the past, all events in Greenland had been trying ahead to extra enterprise with the Individuals.”
His prediction? Greenlanders, he stated, will “search security in the established order — within the Kingdom of Denmark and its alliances.”
Even the dogsled race has reacted coolly. The organizers of the race — the Avannaata Qimussersua, Greenland’s Tremendous Bowl of dogsled races — stated on Sunday of Ms. Vance and her son, “We didn’t invite them,” however added that the occasion was open to the general public and “they might attend as spectators.”
The Greenland drama started throughout Mr. Trump’s first time period. He floated the idea of buying the island from Denmark — with folks in his camp pointing to its location and geopolitical significance — however the plan pale away. As out-of-the-blue as which may have appeared, Mr. Trump wasn’t the primary American official to boost the concept.
In 1868, Secretary of State William Seward, contemporary off the Alaska buy, commissioned a research about buying Greenland. He was taken with Greenland’s coal, however the plan didn’t go anyplace. American officers resurrected the concept in 1910 and once more in 1946, seeing Greenland as a strategically essential chunk of territory, however every time Denmark didn’t wish to half with it.
What has modified in recent times is Denmark’s grip. In 2009, Denmark granted Greenland self-rule, which suggests the island runs most of its affairs besides protection, international coverage and some others. A motion for full independence has been gathering steam. This month, a carefully watched parliamentary election on the island yielded an awkward and mixed result: The primary-place occasion desires to pursue independence slowly whereas the second-place finisher desires it a lot quicker and features a outstanding pro-Trump member who attended the president’s inauguration.
This raises one other challenge: the timing of the go to, whereas Greenland’s events are nonetheless negotiating over who will kind the island’s subsequent administration.
“It’s unhealthy timing. We don’t also have a new authorities but. They need to’ve waited,” stated Jens Peter Lange, a dental technician in Ilulissat, a city within the Arctic Circle.
However he stated, “Is it disrespectful? Probably not. I’d slightly say: they lack situational consciousness.”
The go to has been within the works for weeks. Jørgen Boassen, a Greenlandic bricklayer and an outspoken supporter of Mr. Trump, stated he and Tom Dans, an American businessman who suggested Mr. Trump about Arctic affairs throughout his first time period, helped set up it.
“As a substitute of simply rejecting them, we must be cooperating with the Individuals,” Mr. Boassen stated in an interview. “We merely can’t keep away from the U.S. as a companion, whether or not in commerce or protection.”
“I feel it’s completely nice that they’re coming,” he added. “It’s an enormous promotion for our Greenlandic sled canine.”
