For more than 150 years, U.S. officials have been trying, as President Trump puts it, to “get” Greenland.
The idea came up in the 1860s, then again before and after the world wars. In a way, the timing couldn’t be better than now, with Greenlanders re-examining their painful colonial history under Denmark and many itching to break off from Denmark, which still controls some of the island’s affairs.
But President Trump seems to have overplayed his cards — big time.
His decision, announced this weekend, to send a high-powered U.S. delegation to the island, apparently uninvited, is already backfiring. The administration tried to present it as a friendly trip, saying that Usha Vance, the wife of Vice President JD Vance, would attend a dogsled race this week with one of their sons and that Michael Waltz, the national security adviser, would tour an American military base.
But instead of winning the hearts and minds of Greenland’s 56,000 people, the move, coupled with Mr. Trump’s recent statement that “one way or the other, we’re going to get it,” is pushing Greenland further away.
Over the past 24 hours, the Greenlandic government has dropped its posture of being shy and vague in the face of Mr. Trump’s pushiness. Instead, it blasted him as “aggressive” and asked Europe for backup. And the planned visit may only strengthen the bonds between Greenland — an ice-covered land three times the size of Texas — and Denmark.
“This will clearly have the opposite effect of what the Americans want,” said Lars Trier Mogensen, a political analyst based in Copenhagen. “This offensive pushes Greenland further away from the U.S., even though a year ago, all parties in Greenland were looking forward to more business with the Americans.”
His prediction? Greenlanders, he said, will “seek safety in the status quo — in the Kingdom of Denmark and its alliances.”
Even the dogsled race has reacted coolly. The organizers of the competition — the Avannaata Qimussersua, essentially the Super Bowl of dogsled races — said on Sunday of Ms. Vance and her son, “We did not invite them,” but added that the event was open to the public and “they may attend as spectators.”
The Greenland drama began during Mr. Trump’s first term. He floated the idea of buying the island from Denmark — with people in his camp pointing to its prime strategic location at the edge of North America and along the Arctic Ocean — but the plan faded away. As out-of-the-blue as that might have seemed, Mr. Trump wasn’t the first American official to raise it.
In 1868, Secretary of State William Seward, fresh off the Alaska purchase, commissioned a study about acquiring Greenland. He was interested in Greenland’s coal, but the plan didn’t go anywhere. American officials resurrected the idea in 1910 and again in 1946, seeing Greenland as a strategically important chunk of territory, but each time Denmark didn’t want to part with it.
What has changed in recent years is Denmark’s grip. In 2009, Denmark granted Greenland limited self-rule, which means the island runs most of its affairs except defense, foreign policy and a few others. A movement for full independence has been gathering steam. This month, a closely watched parliamentary election yielded an awkward and mixed result: The first-place party wants to pursue independence slowly while the second-place finisher wants it as soon as possible and includes a prominent pro-Trump member who attended the president’s inauguration.
This raises another issue: the timing of the visit, while Greenland’s parties are still negotiating over forming the island’s next administration.
“It’s bad timing. We don’t even have a new government yet. They should’ve waited,” said Jens Peter Lange, a dental technician in Ilulissat, a town in the Arctic Circle.
But he said, “Is it disrespectful? Not really. I’d rather say: they lack situational awareness.”
Svend Hardenberg, a mining executive and, more recently, a star of a Danish Netflix series with an entire season set in Greenland, offered a more nuanced — but no less pointed — view.
“People are reading political intent into something that, in practice, is quite straightforward,” he said. “This was supposed to be a positive, cultural celebration — and now it’s been turned into a geopolitical standoff.”
He blamed the press, particularly in Denmark, for “shaping public opinion in a direction that creates mistrust,” adding: “It’s the Danish narrative — Denmark defending its own place in the world. That’s what we’re seeing here.”
The visit has been in the works for weeks. Jørgen Boassen, a Greenlandic bricklayer and outspoken supporter of Mr. Trump, said he helped plan it. Mr. Boassen has been involved in several of the Trump camp’s heavy-handed efforts in Greenland including the visit by Donald Trump Jr. in January that was followed by pro-Trump social media influencers passing out $100 bills. Many Greenlanders weren’t so fond of that, either.
Still, Mr. Boassen said in an interview, “instead of just rejecting them, we should be cooperating with the Americans. We simply can’t avoid the U.S. as a partner.”
“I think it’s absolutely great that they’re coming,” he added. “It’s a huge promotion for our Greenlandic sled dogs.”
