Christian Ulloriag Jeppesen remembers how it all started.
In 2019, during Donald J. Trump's first term as president, Mr. Trump floated the idea of the United States buying the island of Greenland. At the time, most people in Greenland (and the European country that controlled it, Denmark) thought his proposal was a joke.
“Everyone said, 'Ha-ha, you can't just buy the country, that's not what he meant,'” Mr. Jeppesen, a native Greenlander and radio producer, said by phone. “Obviously, it was the wrong way to take it. Look where we are today.”
Now Mr Trump has doubled down on his insistence that the US should annex Greenland for security reasons. And that leaves Greenlanders asking the same questions as everyone else, but more urgently.
Is Mr. Trump floundering again, pushing an imaginary annexation plan that he knows is difficult?
Or is it serious?
Based on his comments over the past few weeks, Mr. Trump appears to be dead serious. Never mind that the Danish administration has not sold the territory and that its future should be determined by the local population.
“For the purposes of national security and freedom in the world, the United States of America feels that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media in late December when announcing his choice for ambassador to Denmark. .
At a press conference on Tuesday, the president-elect took a more surprising step. He refused to rule out using military force to take Greenland. That same day, Donald Trump Jr. suddenly appeared on the island.
The president-elect's son landed in the Greenlandic capital of Nuuk on Tuesday afternoon, took in some sights, including a statue of an 18th-century Danish-Norwegian missionary, and was hosted by a Danish Trump supporter. He said the reason for the trip was personal, not official, but wrote about the visit by his son, the president-elect, and “various representatives” and said, “MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN.”
“It's all scary,” Mr. Jeppesen said.
At 836,000 square miles, Greenland is the world's largest island, about a quarter the size of the United States. Denmark elects two to its parliament and 31 to its own parliament, which is responsible for most aspects of the island's government, although Denmark retains control over several policy areas, including elements of defense and international affairs.
Its location and landscape make it desirable to Mr. Trump on several levels.
It is strategically located on top of the world, east of Canada along the Arctic Sea and home to a large American military base. it is so full of mineral resources such as cobalt, copper and nickel.
As climate change melts ice, it opens up new routes through the Arctic Sea, which has become a hotly contested region for shipping, energy and other natural resources, as well as for military maneuvers.
Greenland may also be in the middle of a transatlantic conflict over its sovereignty. On Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Europe could not allow a nation to attack its sovereign borders — adding that he did not expect the US to invade Greenland.
Greenland is in the spotlight as the local independence movement gains momentum. Many Greenlanders feel a growing resentment towards Denmark, which has played a watchdog role for decades. For its size, Greenland has a small population, and most of the 56,000 Greenlanders are Inuit, part of a group of people who live in Canada and Alaska.
The Greenlandic language is quite different from the Danish language. Many people follow a completely different culture and belief system than those in Western Europe. And like indigenous peoples in the United States and elsewhere, they have long been treated unequally.
Greenlanders' resentment of Denmark was heightened two years ago by revelations that Danish doctors had implanted intrauterine contraceptives on thousands of local women and girls in the 1960s and 1970s. often without their knowledge.
Although Danish officials emphasize that they strive for warm relations with the United States, they have repeatedly said that Greenland is not for sale. Last month, Denmark's king waded into the fray by abruptly changing the country's coat of arms to more prominently feature the symbols of Greenland and the Faroe Islands (another Danish-controlled territory) — a polar bear and a sheep.
Amid this debate over identity, many people are now confused about Mr. Trump's intentions.
“Is this just a distraction?” Ulrik Pram, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, asked Gad. “Or is it threat-based diplomacy?”
according to contract in 2009 Greenlanders have the right to hold a referendum on independence, providing Greenland with expanded self-government. That hasn't happened yet, analysts say, because Greenland is still heavily dependent on Denmark for many professional services, including doctors, nurses and teachers, as well as half a billion dollars a year in subsidies.
Aaja Chemnitz, one of two representatives from Greenland in Denmark's parliament, said she was concerned that Mr Trump was trying to bolster Greenland's independence movement to serve his own interests. In this case, he said, “we risk being a pawn in the game between Denmark and the United States.”
Greenland benefits from the Danish welfare system, and he said it would be worse if it became part of the United States.
“I've seen the American system,” Ms. Chemnitz, who lived in New York while working at the United Nations, said in a telephone interview. “I know how damaging that can be to equality.”
Mr. Jeppesen, a radio producer, said Mr. Trump may also be misinterpreting the independent nature of Greenlanders. Greenland is not just a piece of land. This is a nation, a story, a homeland.
“There's this great pride you get from just being one of 56,000,” Mr. Jeppesen said. “Greenland is amazing, beautiful, the most beautiful country in the world.”
“And this is a country fighting for independence,” he said. “Not a piece of property you can buy.”