This article explores the impact of Donald Trump's interest in Greenland, the challenges and allure of this remote Arctic nation, and the complex relationship between Greenland and Denmark. It delves into the historical context of colonization and its lasting effects on Greenlandic society.
With temperatures plunging to minus 10C overnight and snow piled in drifts in the street, Daddy’s brewpub in downtown Nuuk offers a welcome respite from Greenland ’s famously unpredictable winter climate. Think nachos and rib-eye steak on the bar menu, comfy booths, pool and darts, soccer blaring from the TV and tap beer supplied by a neighbouring microbrewery: try the Nittaalaq, a crisp pale ale named for the Greenland ic word for a single perfect snowflake.
In recent weeks, Daddy’s has also gained more than a little fame. It hosted Donald Trump Jr when he swung by in January for a meet and greet during his surprise visit to the world’s largest island, where he reportedly extolled the virtues of the American way of life. Then, when Donald Trump snr, after his inauguration on January 20, reiterated his desire to somehow take over Greenland, Daddy’s became a de facto HQ for the swarms of foreign journalists who descended on Nuuk, intent on button-holing bewildered Greenlanders to ask them if they want to become American. Many outlets have reached out to Qupanuk Olsen, who wears many hats as a trained mining engineer, YouTube content creator and candidate in Greenland’s upcoming general election. “When Donald Trump Jr arrived in his plane, that was a mind-blowing moment,” Olsen tells us. “It’s no longer just words. At that moment when I saw the plane, it was like being hit in your stomach, like out of breath. Should I be excited? Should I be nervous? What kind of feeling should I have right now?” Greenlanders are no longer laughing at Trump, she says. Instead, they’re asking, what happens next? Can the United States really take over Greenland from Denmark? How could that practically happen? What do Greenlanders want?Giant icebergs. Insta-perfect multicoloured homes on bleak hillsides. Shaggy musk oxen, snow-white Arctic foxes, toothy narwhals and beluga whales. Glaciers and fjords. Sheer remoteness. For the visitor, Greenland inspires like little else.But there are plenty of challenges in one of the world’s least accessible tourist destinations. Two-thirds of the place is buried under permanent ice. You get a little over four hours of daylight in midwinter. Wi-Fi is patchy. Food, much of it imported, can be expensive (although Greenland does, somewhat improbably, boast several Thai eateries). The local language can prove impenetrable: “best regards”, at the end of an email, translates as “inussuarnersumik inuulluaqqusillunga”. There are few roads: travel between settlements is by boat, helicopter, plane or dog sled. Even then, snowstorms and ice regularly strand travellers. ‘Don’t get us wrong, Greenland is a very special destination ... but there’s also some things not always in our control.’ Until a few months ago, you couldn’t fly internationally into Nuuk, Greenland’s capital (population 19,000). You had to catch a plane to Kangerlussuaq, a tiny town 320 kilometres away and the site of a former US Air Force base and, from there, fly in a hair-raising turboprop. Even the official visitor website warns: “Don’t get us wrong, Greenland is a very special destination that will give you experiences hard to replicate elsewhere, but there’s also some things not always in our control.” Time, it says, is not the most important factor in planning daily life on Greenland: “The Arctic weather is.” Politically and economically, Greenland has seen some patchy weather. It was governed by Denmark as a colony from the early 1800s and, until World War II, it was reachable only by boat. Many Greenlanders lived without electricity or running water. Some 90 per cent of the 59,000 residents are Inuit, descendants of the Thule people, who entered Northern Greenland across an ice bridge from Canada around the 12th century. ‘They may differ in terms of pace and in important questions on how to secure the economy but the aim is the same.’ Old enmities with the Danish colonisers linger. In 1951, with echoes of Australia’s stolen generations, 22 Inuit children known as the “” were resettled with Danish foster families in an attempt to re-educate them as “little Danes”. In the 1960s and 1970s, thousands of Inuit women and girls were fitted with an intrauterine device (IUD) in a Danish effort. It remains unclear how many gave consent or were given a proper explanation. An investigation into the scandal remains ongoing.“These were policies aiming at making Greenland an equal part of Denmark, but they were often taken on a very rash and even experimental basis without much sensitivity to cultural differences between Inuit and Danes and without much care for the individuals inflicted,” says Astrid Andersen, a specialist in historical justice at the Danish Institute for International Studies in Copenhagen. “These discussions are very much still unfolding
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