President Trump's calls for the U.S. to take over Greenland have sparked alarm and outrage.Denmark, which is responsible for Greenland's security, recently announced that it would further boost its defense spending.And a recent poll found 85 percent of Greenlanders are opposed to being part of the United States.Parliamentary candidate Naaja Nathanielsen is one of them.It isn't clear whether Trump's ambitions for Greenland will take. But some politicians in the territory are taking his calls for acquisition more seriously than ever before.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: Why does Trump want Greenland?
President Donald Trump has had his eye on Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, since his first term. Trump says he wants the island for national security purposes. He and his allies point to Greenland's strategic location, as well as its reserves of rare earth minerals.
The president's renewed interest has thrust the island and its roughly 57,000 residents into an intense geopolitical spotlight. Lila Sandgreen was born and raised in Alulisat, the small town that's one of Greenland's most popular tourist destinations. She and her husband run a tourism company there.
We want to be Greenlanders. We don't want to be Americans. We don't want to be Danish. We only want to be Greenlandic people. We want to be Inuit. So Greenland is not for sale.
That notion that the people of Greenland don't want to be American and don't want to be Danish was one I heard over and over again on my recent reporting trip to the island. A recent poll from Danish and Greenlandic news outlets backs up that sentiment. It found that 85 percent of Greenlanders don't want to be part of the United States.
We want to be independent. So we are not for sale.
This is Karen Kortzen. We met her in between appointments at the hair salon she opened six months ago in Alulisat.
We are so isolated. We are not familiar with the military spaces or something like European or American. We're not used to it because we just... We are very calm, so we are not so interested.
Greenlandic and Danish leaders have also told the U.S. that the territory is not for sale. And former lawmakers agree.
I cannot understand how a democracy could breed the kind of power grabbing that we are seeing here.
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Chapter 2: How do Greenlanders feel about potential U.S. acquisition?
damaged, I think, our relationship. And I think it's very sad because we have so much to gain from each other. I think it was an open door. There was absolutely no barriers towards American interest into Greenland just a couple of months ago.
That was Naya Nathanielson. She's running for parliament and has served as Minister of Business, Trade, Mineral Resources, Justice, and Gender Equality in the Greenlandic government. This episode was produced by Matt Ozog, Vincent Accovino, and Elena Burnett. It was edited by Ashley Brown, Courtney Dorning, and Nadia Lancey. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan. It's Consider This from NPR.
I'm Juana Summers.