Reach for Greenland How Trump's desires are bringing the islanders together

Donald Trump already had his eye on Greenland during his first term in office. Since his return to the White House, the president has been even more outspoken about his desire for annexation. How is this being received on the island?

Lisa Sólrun Christiansen gets up at four in the morning most days and gets to work. She knits thick woollen sweaters that are sought after by buyers all over the world for their warmth and colorful patterns from the traditional culture of the Greenlandic Inuit.

Her morning routine includes a quick glance at the news, but these days her peace of mind is disturbed by the many reports about US President Donald Trump 's plans for her homeland.

"On his deathbed, he talked a lot about the flag"

"I'm overwhelmed," admits Christiansen as she gazes out to sea, where unreal blue icebergs float off the coast. The 57-year-old is the daughter of parents with roots in the Inuit people and in Denmark. Christiansen loves her Greenland. The fact that her father, an artist and teacher, once designed the red and white flag of the huge island fills the family with great pride.

"On his deathbed, he talked a lot about the flag and said that the flag didn't belong to him, but to the people," says Christiansen. "And there is one sentence that I keep thinking about. He said: "I hope the flag will unite the Greenlandic people."

An island in turmoil

There is growing concern among the people of Greenland that their homeland - an autonomous part of Denmark - is becoming a pawn in the competition between the USA, Russia and China. And they fear that Trump's efforts to take control of resource-rich Greenland could block their path to independence.

Fears were heightened last Sunday when the wife of US Vice President J.D. Vance announced a visit to Greenland. According to her office, Usha Vance plans to arrive on Thursday and watch the Avannaata Qimussersua dog sled race. In addition, White House National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright plan to visit a US military base in northern Greenland.

The visit by the US delegation has heightened tensions. Trump recently reiterated his desire to annex the island - just a few days after the Greenlanders elected a new parliament that rejects a takeover by the USA. The President even made barely veiled allusions to the possibility of the USA building up military pressure. After all, there are US bases in Greenland. "Maybe you'll see more and more soldiers going there."

Greenlandic politicians reacted indignantly to the news of the high-ranking visit from Washington and spoke of American muscle-flexing at a time when they were trying to form a new government. "It must therefore be made clear in bold letters that our integrity and democracy must be respected without any outside interference," emphasized Greenland's outgoing Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede.

David against Goliath

Greenland has limited leverage at best against the world's largest superpower, says Otto Svendsen, an Arctic expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington. However, Trump has made a strategic mistake by starting a dispute with Greenland and Denmark instead of working together with the NATO allies in Nuuk - the capital of the island - and Copenhagen. The US president's actions had welded the Greenlanders together and created an even stronger sense of national identity. The people are proud of their island and determined to take their fate into their own hands and not bow to pressure from Washington, explains Svendsen.

Greenland has belonged to Denmark since 1721, but has been striving to break away for decades. Denmark recognized the autonomous territory's right to independence at a time of its choosing with the so-called Greenland Self-Government Act of 2009, which was approved by the voters there and ratified by the parliament in Copenhagen. The right to self-determination is also enshrined in the United Nations Charter, which was adopted by the United States in 1945.

Strategically important significance

However, Trump has always been more focused on US economic and security interests than on the rights of smaller countries. Greenland, with its location between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean, is indeed of strategic importance at a time when the melting sea ice caused by climate change has reignited the struggle between the Arctic states for natural gas reserves and raw materials. This is because the dwindling ice makes these treasures easier to extract. Russia now has an increased military presence in the region. The Pituffik Space Base - a US military airfield - on the northwest coast of Greenland supports the monitoring of rocket launches and space activities for the US and NATO.

Before Trump's return to the White House, the Greenlanders had hoped that they could use their special location to gain their independence from Denmark. But now they fear that this has made them more vulnerable.

A look back

There was a time when the USA practically occupied Greenland: During the Second World War, the Americans built several air force and naval bases on the island. After the end of the war, President Harry Truman's government offered to buy Greenland from the Danes because of its "extreme importance to the defense of the United States". Copenhagen quickly declined, but signed a long-term agreement for the presence of a US base on the island.

Now Trump is dominating the headlines with new claims to Greenland, which he had already made during his first term in office. This time he seems to be serious. "I think we're going to get it," he said about Greenland in a recent speech to both chambers of the US Congress. "One way or another."