The battle for Greenland: Sovereignty vs. Trump’s strategic interests
Kuno Fencker's vision for Greenland clashes with U.S. ambitions, as the island’s fate hangs in the balance.
At Donald Trump's presidential inauguration last month, alongside tech bros who lined up for photo ops with the president, the relatively unknown Greenlandic politician Kuno Fencker also made an appearance. "Attending the inauguration of President Donald Trump today was an incredible experience," Fencker tweeted on X, sharing photos from the event. "The warmth and hospitality of the American people, coupled with the rich cultural heritage of Washington, D.C., made this event truly memorable." This was enough to make him the most talked-about and controversial figure in the Kingdom of Denmark, to which Greenland belongs. After all, the American president has repeatedly expressed his desire to purchase the island, even suggesting he might take it by force. So an entire nation wondered: Is Fencker a Trojan horse for the president of the United States?
“We are not looking for another country to exploit us, and we will not become part of the United States,” Fencker clarified in an interview with Calcalist. “Greenland is not for sale. I'm working towards sovereignty and more collaboration with USA,” he tweeted four days after the inauguration.
What does this mean? What exactly do you want to achieve for Greenland?
“That we have the right to self-determination and that we enact our own laws as we see fit. Denmark annexed us in the 1950s without a referendum in Greenland. They only held a referendum on the issue for the Danes. And Trump is right about this—Denmark’s legal right to Greenland can and should be questioned.”
Greenland has been making headlines worldwide for the past month. Trump did declare his desire to take over the island back in 2019, sparking a diplomatic storm, but at the time it could have been dismissed as a light-hearted joke. Today, no one is laughing anymore: Last December, Trump tweeted that American ownership of Greenland was “an absolute necessity.” In early January, his son, Donald Trump Jr., visited Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, and reportedly issued a statement that was part promise, part threat: “We will treat you well.” At the same time, his father declared in a press conference that he “cannot commit” to never using military force or economic sanctions to take over Greenland—and the Panama Canal. “We need them for economic security,” he argued. “We may have to do something. We need Greenland for national security reasons, and the Panama Canal is essential to our country.”
These actions have sparked a major storm, threatening to ignite a diplomatic crisis with Europe, and even the possibility of war. A meeting of 27 European leaders in Brussels shifted focus from the Russian threat to threats posed by their loyal ally, the United States: imposing tariffs and taking over Greenland. Even before that, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had started meetings with European leaders to gather support, and EU Defense Minister Andrius Kubilius declared, “We are ready to defend Denmark.” At the end of January, Denmark announced it would invest 14.6 billion Danish kroner ($2.2 billion) in Greenland’s security, including ships, long-range drones, and satellites.
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Danish PM Mette Frederiksen (right) and Greenland's PM Múte Bourup Egede
(Photo: AFP)
Location, location, location: The largest island in the world with vast gas reserves
Greenland is one of the most extreme places on Earth. It is the largest island in the world, its area 98 times greater than that of Israel, yet 80% of it is covered by glaciers. Consequently, it is also the least densely populated place globally, with just around 57,000 people—only 0.6% of Israel’s population—and a population density of 0.14 people per square kilometer. Additionally, there are no roads connecting the island's settlements, so travel between them relies on expensive flights or slow boat trips.
In the Awanata district in northern Greenland, there are 107 days per year with no sunlight at all, and during the height of winter, temperatures can plunge to -28°C. This harsh environment may explain why Greenland holds the world record for suicide rates, with 81 per 100,000 people—nine times the global average. "Life on the island, especially in the north, depends on hunting animals. If there are animals, they are hunted, and everything else can wait," says Greenlandic journalist Ivik Kristiansen. "Due to the severe weather, plans are often canceled, and you might find yourself stranded somewhere for a week, sometimes even a month."
So why does this desolate, frozen, and dark island capture the attention of Donald Trump? Officially, Trump cites geopolitical considerations. John Bolton, the president’s national security adviser during his previous term, explained in an interview with Free Press that "Greenland is intimately connected with our security for a lot of reasons and has been visibly since World War II, after the Danish government fell, to protect the North Atlantic convoys and our own interests against the Nazi threat. After World War II, we built an Air Force base at Thule (now the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland’s Northwest). It was part of the extended DEW line, the “distant early warning” system against Soviet missile launches. Bolton noted that five countries claim exclusive economic zones in the Arctic Circle: the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Russia, and mentioned China’s efforts to expand its influence in the region. "We know from repeated efforts by the Chinese to extend their influence, they want to become an Arctic power. With global warming, that Northwest passage becomes a more viable maritime route. They want to be part of it. So given Greenland’s geographic proximity to the United States, and everything else I’ve stated, it’s obviously a strategic interest.”
Thomas Winkler, Denmark's ambassador to Israel, who previously served in the Danish Foreign Ministry as head of Arctic, North America, and foreign policy cooperation with Greenland and the Faroe Islands, believes that "an important part of Trump's desire to take over Greenland is related to China. At the end of the previous decade, the Chinese had an increased interest in the Arctic Circle (including significant investments), and there was even a time when they even called themselves a near-Arctic State,' but they took that back. They realized they were pushing it."
Another reason for Trump’s interest in the island is its size—2.2 million square kilometers. "I looked at the map and said, 'Why isn’t this ours?'" the president said during a meeting with advisers and cabinet members early in his last term, as described in the best-selling The Divider by journalists Susan Glasser and Peter Baker. "I’m a real estate developer, and I can look at a street corner and say, 'I have to buy this store to build the building I’m building.' Greenland is no different. I love maps, and I see Greenland—and it’s huge. It should be part of the United States."
From a real estate developer’s perspective, acquiring such a vast piece of land like Greenland would secure a place for Trump in American history. Bolton also believed that Trump’s main motivation was less about national security and more about ego: "It’s real estate. He wants to open a Trump casino and a Trump Tower in Nuuk."
Along with its vast real estate, Greenland holds enormous natural resources. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Greenland is estimated to contain 17.5 billion barrels of oil and 4.5 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. These resources represent a significant potential, amounting to around 1% of global oil reserves and 2.4% of gas reserves. However, the island’s remote location and harsh weather conditions severely limit exploration and drilling, making it currently unprofitable. In 2021, the Greenland government announced it would stop all oil exploration due to its commitment to addressing the climate crisis. On the other hand, if the United States were to gain control or exert significant influence over Greenland’s government, it’s likely that these environmental principles would no longer hold sway.
A technique of conquest: Threat or bribery—what America specializes in
In 1721, the Danish-Norwegian missionary Hans Egede founded the city of Nuuk, which later became the capital of Greenland. A statue of him still stands on one of the city's hills, evoking difficult feelings among some Greenlanders. For them, this marks the beginning of their colonization. "I really want this statue to be removed," influential Greenlander Qupanuk Olsen recently told CNN. "Why should there be a statue of him and not of a Greenlander? We should be more proud of who we are... and not celebrate some foreigner who came here, changed our culture, and colonized us." Fencker also told Der Spiegel: "I would like to see this statue in a museum, because that is where it belongs."
For many years, Greenland’s status was that of a colony of Denmark—until 1953, when the island became an integral part of the country. In 1979, Greenland was granted autonomy by the Danish parliament, and in 2009, this autonomy was expanded to include control over natural resources and a separate legal system, though not over foreign policy.
As part of these changes, Greenland could declare full independence if it wished, but this would need to be approved by a referendum among the Greenlandic people. A 2016 poll showed a clear majority (64%) in favor of full independence, but another poll the following year showed clear opposition (78%) to such a move if it meant a decline in living standards.
Greenland's economy, which is at least 90% based on the fishing industry, remains heavily dependent on Denmark. Each year, the Danish government provides the island with a support grant of 3.9 billion Danish kroner ($591 million), which makes up 60% of Greenland’s annual budget and 20% of its GDP. “We are economically dependent on the Danes, not only for money but also for the health system, education, and churches,” explains Viva Olsen, 54, who was born and raised in Greenland and moved to Copenhagen in 2009. “Everything on the island is modeled after Denmark, so we cannot be independent without breaking away from all these systems. There would be jobs to fill, and independence would mean that all jobs would have to be held by Greenlanders, while many Danes currently work there. Our GDP would need to increase because we simply don’t have the resources to finance all of this ourselves. Our history and that of Denmark have been closely intertwined for centuries, and we are loyal people. You can’t just decide on an exit."
Is Denmark allowed to sell Greenland, as Trump has suggested? Of course not. "I think a scenario of military annexation is unlikely, though not impossible," says Danish journalist Niels Jespersen, 44, editor of the social democratic newspaper Netavisen Pio. "The most likely scenario would be that Trump would provoke Greenland into declaring independence, then threaten or bribe the Greenlandic elites into surrendering. The American intelligence community has a lot of experience stirring up quarrels and destabilizing regimes. They’ve done this before in South America during the Cold War, and it wouldn’t be that difficult to do in a place with a tiny population like Greenland, where the political system is already fragile and vulnerable. In addition, the Americans have a long history of evicting indigenous peoples from lands rich in valuable natural resources. Just look at how they treated the Inuit in Alaska. This is a very pessimistic view, of course, but we need to be prepared."
Denmark and prejudice
While Denmark's opposition to giving up Greenland remains firm, the position of the islanders is not entirely clear. On one hand, Múte Bourup Egede, the Prime Minister of Greenland, declared at the end of last month: "We don't want to be Americans. We don't want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders." Similarly, in a survey conducted in January, 85% of Greenlanders said they did not want to be part of the United States. On the other hand, with elections rapidly approaching, Greenland's political system has never been more turbulent. Fencker and his partner, Aki-Matilda Tilia Ditte Høegh-Dam, a young politician considered a vote-getter, dramatically resigned from the Social Democratic party Siumut earlier this month in protest of the "too little focus on independence" in the party's leadership. They also announced that they would join the populist center party Naleraq, which firmly supports Greenland's independence. With these two prominent figures, Naleraq's chances of winning the election have improved dramatically.
Fencker is also believed to have close ties to the person who coordinated Trump Jr.'s visit to the island earlier this month — Tom Dans, the U.S. Arctic commissioner and former senior Treasury official. During Trump’s first term, Dans was asked to investigate how the United States could take over Greenland, including proposing sources of funding. According to a joint report by Danish broadcaster DR and the Greenlandic Broadcasting Authority (KNR), Dans continued his efforts even after Trump left the White House. Last fall, he even met with the Greenlandic representative at the Danish embassy in Washington and asked him to introduce him to Trump supporters in Greenland.
The election is scheduled to take place on March 11, after being brought forward by a month in an attempt to neutralize the influence of external background noise on voters. For the same reason, Greenland has also passed laws prohibiting foreigners from buying property or making political investments on the island. In the previous election, held four years ago, 66% of eligible voters, totaling 27,000 people, participated. Shaking up such a small system is not a very difficult task.
Into this equation must also be added the strained relations between the Danes and the Greenlanders, especially the majority (88%) Inuit population. “The Danes have prejudices about Greenlanders,” says Olsen. “They think we can’t hold a job because we’re stupid or lazy — things like that. I’ve experienced it in job centers, and I know there are many like me who came to Denmark in search of opportunity and got stuck because of these views.” For example, in Denmark, someone who gets too drunk is called a "Greenlandic drunk."
But prejudices not only create barriers to hiring but also fuel racist policies and institutionalized violence. Just about a year ago, the intrauterine device affair exploded in the media: around 140 Greenlandic women filed a lawsuit against Denmark, claiming that in the 1960s and 1970s, intrauterine devices were implanted in their bodies without their knowledge as part of the Danish government's policy at the time to reduce the birth rate on the island. For some, this was done during routine medical check-ups, while others were subjected to it after giving birth or at the end of a pregnancy termination procedure. According to an investigation by DR, this policy was applied to about 4,500 women, some as young as girls, who later suffered medical complications, fertility issues, and even infertility.
Politician Aki-Matilda Tilia Ditte Høegh-Dam called the affair "genocide," and other local politicians echoed this sentiment. "We could have had 200,000 Greenlanders today if it weren't for this scandal," says Fencker. Last year, the Danish government appointed an independent investigation team, consisting of Greenlandic and Danish scientists, to look into the matter. The findings are expected later this year.
This is not the only shocking chapter in the relations between the two nations. In the 1950s and 1960s, a number of "children without a legal father" were born in Greenland due to legislation that allowed Danes to impregnate Greenlandic women without any responsibility for their offspring. In 1951, the "Little Danes" experiment took place, where 22 Inuit children aged 5-9 were sent to boarding schools in Denmark for "re-education," including a ban on speaking their native language. In some cases, this was done without the parents' consent or full knowledge. Six of the children were later adopted by Danish families, while the rest were sent back to orphanages in Nuuk, where they were forbidden from visiting their families. As adults, many of them struggled with mental health issues, addictions, and unemployment.
The Danish government has apologized for most of these scandals in recent years, but public outcry continues, and it is likely that the developments in the IUD affair will fuel further outrage. "Denmark has done many shameful things in Greenland, and Trump is using them against us," says Ronni Abergel, a Danish social entrepreneur and one of the founders of the Human Library. "It encourages hostility towards the Danes in Greenland, feeding racism and reminding people of the pain, suffering, and lack of equality in the authorities. These are things we should be ashamed of and take full responsibility for. But the Greenlanders have a place in our kingdom as long as they want to be there. I would not want them to be manipulated into going elsewhere. Trump knows how to create polarization."
Olsen thinks otherwise: “There will always be scandals that come out and pile up, but it’s time to stop condemning Denmark for treating us like a colony,” she says. “We have to stop thinking like African Americans who talk about slavery to this day, as if it’s still happening now.”
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"Greenlandic independence is not impossible"
Ultimately, it seems that the question of whether Greenland will secede from Denmark will come down to its ability to be economically independent. Today, the answer is a resounding no. But in the future? For Fencker, it certainly will be possible. “People think of us as natives who can only hunt. But take me, for example — I’m a qualified lawyer. I have a master’s degree in business administration. I have training in air traffic control. Why shouldn’t Greenlanders be able to be economically independent?”
I don’t think of you as natives who can only hunt, but I do think your population is too small and the challenges are many and great.
"We have a huge amount of natural resources, but we’ve lived for too long as a colony. We’ve sent our raw materials to be processed elsewhere, instead of adding value here in Greenland. If we keep our resources here, our economy will skyrocket. But our current system is difficult to break. It takes time, and one way to change it is to diversify our economy and create incentives to produce and add value within Greenland. On the other hand, we need to discourage entities that don’t contribute to enriching our GDP. If we do all of this, our economy will be completely sustainable. It just depends on the willingness of politicians to make the right decisions. We haven't done it for a long time, and it's time to start.”
What economic sectors are you referring to?
“It could be oil and gas, or important minerals. It could be a reform of the fishing industry. We also want to market Greenland as a tourist destination. In December, the first international flight from Copenhagen landed at the new airport in Nuuk, and in June, a direct flight will be launched from Newark, New Jersey. Two more airports are scheduled to open in the coming years. Any such step can contribute to making our economy more sustainable.”
And who will work? You have such a small population.
"It's not impossible. Almost 20,000 Greenlanders live in Denmark because of social problems here on the island, and if we solve those problems, some of them will definitely come back. We just need to make this place more attractive."
Do you really think Greenland can stand on its own two feet?
"We can always stand on our own two feet — just like Denmark does. Denmark couldn't defend itself if it wasn't a member of NATO or the European Union. So, the Danes, and maybe other people, are looking at what seems impossible, trying to convince us that sovereignty is unattainable because of our size, our small population, and other reasons like 'blah, blah, blah.'"
Aren't you afraid that if you secede from Denmark, the United States will take over?
"I’ll tell you one thing for sure — we’re not looking for another country to take advantage of us."
