In Greenland, Trump's talk of annexation is stirring up a dark past
SOURCE:ABC Australia|BY:Lauren Day
The United States has a long history of wanting to acquire Greenland, but people living on the island say Donald Trump's latest comments about annexation feel different.
"It's cold as shit here, nobody told me!"
When US Vice-President JD Vance travelled to Greenland in March last year, his first impressions showed just how underdressed and underprepared he was for the icy island.
Greenland has been here before, many times: first, in 1867, when the US tried to buy the island soon after buying Alaska from Russia; again, in 1917, when it was considered as part pf the purchase of the US Virgin Islands from Denmark; and a third time just after World War II, when the Truman administration offered Denmark $US100 million for the territory.
Even armed with a rifle and dodging icebergs that could easily plunge his small boat into the deadly cold, it was Trump's rhetoric that made him nervous.
Greenland is home to fewer than 60,000 people, and about 20,000 live in the capital, Nuuk. (Foreign Correspondent: Greg Nelson ACS)
The events of last week have amplified his fears.
"I think for many here in Greenland and myself, we are scared about what has happened in Venezuela," he told the ABC.
"We are wondering what else he could do when he talks so much about wanting Greenland."
While the invasion of Venezuela is sending an extra chill through the subzero air, annexing Greenland would be an almost unthinkable escalation.
As a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, Greenland is covered by NATO's protections and the overriding principle that an attack on one would be an attack on all.
Foldager hopes the pressure from NATO will be enough to deter Trump.
"I just hope … politicians in the USA can see that it's not OK and he [Trump] can't just take our country," he said.
Like most of the approximately 60,000 people in Greenland, Patrick has Inuit heritage and he worries about what would be lost in a US takeover.
For Greenlanders, that's a fear based on experience.
Greenland's long fight for independence
Denmark began colonising Greenland in the 18th century. But despite granting the territory more autonomy over the years, it has been criticised for the way it treated the local population.
The women had been given invasive contraceptive devices by Danish health authorities against their will, and sometimes without their knowledge, in cases dating back to the 1960s.
The apology was widely seen as a result of Greenland being thrust into the international spotlight by Trump.
Nive Heilman believes Donald Trump has forced Denmark to confront its dark history in Greenland. (Foreign Correspondent: Greg Nelson ACS)
Dog trainer Nive Heilmann told the ABC that while she was no fan of the US president or his ambitions to take Greenland, she was glad he'd forced Denmark to confront its dark history and the misconception they were "the nice colonisers".
Her own grandmother had been shipped off to Denmark at just 14 to "become Danish".
"You can't turn back time and change whatever's been done to us, but you can at least acknowledge it and say, 'Yeah, that was really not good and we are sorry about that,'" she said.
One of those fighting for the island to become its own nation is Jorgen Boassen, the man known as Donald Trump's "Greenlandic son". He often sports a MAGA cap and gave Donald Jr a tour of Nuuk during his controversial visit last year.
Jorgen Boassen, pictured in Greenland in early 2025, is known as Donald Trump's "Greenlandic son". (Foreign Correspondent: Greg Nelson ACS)
Boassen still thinks the White House's threats to annex Greenland are just words, and even believes it could lead to independence.
"I'm not concerned," he told the ABC.
"I'm just happy for new possibilities for Greenlanders and when the time comes, we will be recognised as a people."
Despite the president's repeated desire to own Greenland, Boassen thinks the ultimate result won't be a takeover but a so-called "free association" agreement where Greenland could become independent in exchange for granting the United States authority over its defence and foreign affairs.
"That's what the people of Greenland want," he said, "to become independent — finally".
He also believes that when members of the Trump administration float the idea of military intervention, they're merely talking about stepping in in the event of an invasion by Russia or China.
"Of course [Trump] wants to control the Arctic, the Danes aren't protecting it well enough."
After being flown to the US by a Trump lobbyist to help campaign for the president in 2024, Boassen hopes that if that happens, he'll be taken care of.
"Maybe he'll make me president of Greenland," he jokes.