Greenland is ready to talk.
Responding Monday to the diplomatic upheaval caused last week by President-elect Donald J. Trump, who considered taking control of the giant island in the Arctic Ocean, Greenland’s prime minister said the territory would like to work more closely with the U.S. United in defense and natural resources.
“The reality is that we will work with the US – yesterday, today and tomorrow,” Prime Minister Múte Egede told a news conference in Nuuk, the tiny capital of icy Greenland.
But he was adamant: Greenlanders did not want to become Americans.
“We have to be very smart in the way we act,” he said, adding, “The power struggles between the superpowers are growing and now they are knocking at our door.”
Mr Trump refused to rule out using economic or military force to restore the Panama Canal and take Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory he suggested buying during his first term in office. Then, as now, Greenland and Denmark said the island was not for sale. Panamanian leaders also rejected the threat.
Mr. Egede said on Monday that “we were all shocked” by Mr. Trump’s remarks, which were highlighted by a surprise and somewhat mysterious visit by the president-elect’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., to the island in the same day. .
The younger Mr. Trump made a lightning-quick tour, saying he was in private business, and since then, headlines around the world have been making headlines for Greenland.
Most of Greenland’s territory is covered with ice, only about 56,000 people live here and, until recently, the island was best known for icebergs and polar bears. As climate change melts the Arctic ice, this region has quietly fallen into the cross hairs of the world’s powers.
The United States, Russia, European countries, China and others have eyed Arctic shipping lanes and vast mineral resources no longer considered inaccessible.
The island has been linked to Denmark for centuries, first as a colony and now as a separate territory that has achieved a large degree of autonomy in recent years. Denmark still controls the island’s foreign policy and defense.
But increased interest from international powers coincides with Greenland’s push for independence, and that itch has become stronger. At the same time, many people here are reluctant to completely cut ties with Denmark because of the hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies Denmark provides each year.
In Nuuk, which was a sunny zero degrees Fahrenheit on Monday afternoon, many people were anxiously waiting to hear what the prime minister had to say.
“Whatever happens, there’s no going back,” said Aviaq Kleist, the owner of a coffee shop in Nuuk Center, the city’s largest mall, with a couple of dozen stores. She joked that maybe Mr. Egede would suddenly declare independence.
Mr Egede did not – he danced around the question, saying the country had been working steadily towards the goal but that “different parties have different views”. (There is also a clear independence process that involves a referendum, if it comes to that.)
The prime minister also expressed relief at comments JD Vance, the incoming vice president, made on a Fox News show this weekend. While Mr Vance did not exactly rule out the use of military force, saying: “We don’t have to use military force” because “we already have troops in Greenland”, his tone was upbeat as he spoke of the country’s “incredible natural resources”. Greenland. and “a deal to be made.”
The United States has been interested in Greenland for years. During World War II, she set up base here, and after the war she tried to buy Greenland from Denmark, which refused. Today, the US military operates the Pituffik space base, which specializes in missile defense, on the northern tip of the island.
In Nuuk on Monday, people seemed to be on the same page as the prime minister, expressing a mixture of hope and caution. Some said they did not want to be swallowed up by the United States. But they wanted a stronger partnership with America.
“What we really need is more cooperation and trade,” said Nielseeraq Berthelsen, a fisherman. He was working in an ice-covered seafood market, selling chunks of whale skin and bright red seal meat.
He said he was walking through a mall last week when someone vaguely approached him and invited him to a special dinner.
The next thing he knew, he said, he was shaking the hand of the younger Mr. Trump.
“He had a lot of enthusiasm,” said Mr. Berthelsen, who was standing in air so cold that his eyes watered as he spoke. “He had good energy.”
Ivik Kristiansen contributed reporting.
