Greenlanders ‘left unable to sleep’ over fears Donald Trump will invade them
If you want to brave the freezing temperatures to walk around the world’s northernmost capital city, you’ll hear just one thing on people’s lips.
The residents of Nuuk, in Greenland, are talking about Donald Trump and his escalating threats to take over the island they call home.
The US President is said to be discussing ‘a range of options’ to acquire the Danish arctic territory, which Copenhagen has stressed is not up for grabs.
Metro has spoken to Nuuk locals about the atmosphere in their tiny city of 20,000 which they say is ridden with division and fear.
‘People are talking about it everywhere,’ says local Maliina Abelsen.
‘People cannot sleep. People are afraid. People are anxious.’
Ms Abelsen, who served as Greenland Minister for Finance from 2009 to 2013, said the island had calmed down after the sting of threats made by Trump in 2025.
Then the US attacked Venezuela and captured the country’s president in a daring raid on January 3 this year.
With Maduro in a New York jail, attention has turned to Greenland, with suggestions Trump is considering utilising the world’s greatest military power to take over the territory.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that the world should take the US leader’s ambitions seriously.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said: ‘Nobody’s gonna fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland.’
Why does Donald Trump want Greenland?
Trump has never been shy about his desire to claim Greenland for his own, claiming the island is vital for American national security.
Greenland sits in the Arctic Circle, where world powers have for years been jostling for military control – the US has a missile defence base on it.
By seizing the island, Washington says it would have an outpost between the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic.
As climate change melts the Arctic icecaps, the once nearly impossible-to-navigate ocean is becoming more alluring.
The country also has large amounts of rare minerals used to make essentials like batteries, phones and vehicles. It may also have pools of oil and gas, though scientists warn it’s too risky to dig for them.
Speaking from Nuuk, local Ms Abelsen told Metro: ‘We thought we had been through a horrendous threat and it had calmed down again.
‘We are a very small population of 57,000 people. When we get threatened, we take it seriously.’
Polling consistently shows that Greenlanders generally favour eventual independence from Denmark but oppose being owned by the US.
‘The most bleak thing about this is he thinks he is running a real estate agency,’ she explains.
‘Trump thinks he can buy a people and a country. We do not want to go through colonialism again.’
The Danish military presence in the city has already ramped up in the year since Trump came to office, she adds.
But as diplomacy has failed to get off the ground, Ms Abelsen says terrified residents aren’t contemplating leaving the island – quite the opposite.
The consultant added: ‘People are saying no one should take our country.
‘If the US invaded, I would stay as long as possible. It is my country, it is all I have.’
The former politician speaks persuasively about the atmosphere on the world’s largest island, but she admits the international spat is creating ‘conflict within the population’.
Patrick Mr Abrahamsen, 46, says Greenland is divided on a scale reminiscent of the Brexit arguments after the referendum.
The rescue helicopter winch operator told Metro: ‘People are always talking about if you have seen the news.
‘Trump’s rhetoric is activating the opposition in Greenland and getting them to speak up.
‘When they speak a lot of Greenlanders listen. It is dividing the country.’
The Nuuk resident is referreing to the pro-US party Naleraq, which came second in the territory’s elections last year.
The party wants a defence agreement with Washington and could pursue a ‘free association’ arrangement with the US.
One thing Greenlanders can agree on is that Trump’s rhetoric has escalated in recent days, he adds.
‘It is no longer just words and ideas. There are no tangible actions,’ acknowledged Abrahamsen, who is still sceptical about the prospect of a US invasion.
So what if Trump does choose to send in the military? ‘There is nothing we can do,’ he says.
‘We talk about this a lot. No military alliance can stand up against the US. So we can just sit back and relax and hope for the best.’
Mr Abrahamsen says his greatest ‘fear’ is what any US occupation could mean for the indigenous Inuit population, who he claims have not been treated as ‘equal partners’ where they live in the US state of Alaska.
Trump has consistently said that getting his hands on Greenland is crucial for the US’s national security, something which has sparked outrage among Greenlanders.
They point to the little-known agreement signed in 1951, which allows the US to ‘construct, install, maintain, and operate’ military bases across Greenland.
Mr Abrahamsen said: ‘Everyone knows it [Trump’s claims] are bullsh*t.
‘If he wanted to, he has the right to put in all the military installations he wants. He has the full right to increase military presence.’
Ms Abelsen also rubbished suggestions that Russians were sailing up and down the Greenland coast.
The former Finance Minister explained: ‘Their presence is so exaggerated. They are not the threat; Trump is the threat.’
European leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Danish PM Mette Frederiksen all signed a joint statement calling on the US to uphold ‘the principles of the UN Charter’.
These include ‘sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders’, the statement says.
It continued: ‘Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.’
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