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.”