Threated Greenland is the “Land of the People”

The glacier-fed green waters of Greenland

​The land that Donald Trump covets, GroenLand (Greenland) was named by Viking explorer Erik the Red close to 1,000 years ago. He saw the lush green waters along the southern coast of the massive island, the largest in the world (yes, smaller than Australia which is considered a continent). 

The Inuit name for Greenland is Kalaallit Nunaat, “Land of the People.”

A recent poll of Greenland’s population found that just 6 per cent of Greenlanders are in favour of joining the USA, with 85 per cent against it. U.S. President Trump asserts the USA will own it. In fact, he is willing to pay up to $100,000 per Greenlander to become Americans, surely such an offer would only insult decent people everywhere.

Greenland (in yellow), and Ellesmere Island, (upper left in pink)

“We’re going to take over Greenland or China or Russia will,” says Trump. The 47th President of the U.S.A. talks about “national security” but has his eye on the rich reserves of rare earth minerals on the island.
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Fresh from Trump referring repeatedly to Canada as the potential 51st state of the USA, Canadians should be fully aware that Greenland is just sixteen miles (twenty- six kilometres) across the winter ice from Ellesmere Island, at the two islands’ closest point.

There is circumpolar solidarity emerging on Greenland’s future. John Main, the Premier of Nunavut, which includes Canada’s Ellesmere Island, has expressed support for the Greenlanders and their desire for self-determination.

Few Canadians, let alone Prime Minister Mark Carney, would want to place in the mind of the volatile U. S. President any similarities between these two very large and mineral-rich islands.
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Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski is a preparing a bill to prevent the Trump administration from taking over Greenland. She describes as “stunning” that the United States is even discussing the matter.

Mary Simon, Canada’s Inuk Governor General, and long-time advocate for Inuit and Indigenous rights, and External Affairs Minister Anita Amand are planning to visit Greenland next month. 

The question of the sovereignty of Greenland is not a simple matter, as the island is an autonomous dependent territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, a member of NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty considers an armed attack against one member is an attack against all.

Thus, U.S. military action against Greenland could pit Greenland and Denmark against the rest of NATO, including European nations and Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said recently: “The future of Greenland is the decision of Greenland and Denmark exclusively.”

Meanwhile, the war between Russia and Ukraine rages on, and Russian Premier Putin is absolutely opposed to Ukraine joining NATO, even though northern states like Sweden and Finland joined NATO in recent years, bringing the total membership to 32 nations. For the most part, the NATO members stand strongly in support of Ukraine, although in recent months Trump has steered a middle course between Ukraine and Russia. 

Russia is ominously close to both Greenland and the Canadian arctic, and Carney is heavily committed to increasing this country’s military presence in the North.

As for Trump, he has just shown his willingness to use military force in favour of U.S. economic interests with the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and jailing him in a New York prison. He has also invited large US oil companies to take over and manage the Venezuelan oil reserves, the largest in the world.

This bravado does not bode well for Trump’s approach to the resources and people of Greenland.

The U.S. strategic interest in Greenland increased after World War Two. Denmark had been occupied rapidly by Hitler’s forces in 1940 and after the war, the Danish government agreed to the establishment of a small U.S. airbase in Thule in northern Greenland.

Trump’s appetite for military control clearly increased with the eating. In the process, Greenlander’s suspicions about American intentions for their island has also risen. 

This week, a delegation of top Greenlander and Danish elected officials held a meeting in Washington DC with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio. After that meeting Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokka Rasmussan said there is a “fundamental disagreement with the U.S. over Greenland,” although the meeting did decide on a working group to consider the issues in the dispute.

Now, Denmark has just announced a stepped-up military presence in the Arctic “in close cooperation with our allies.”

Still, such talk may not win over the 57,000 Greenlanders standing up to the most powerful nation on the planet. An elderly Greenlander when asked recently whether she would want Greenland to be “bought,” she replied simply: “No.”