'It's another kind of slavery': Greenland residents fume over Trump's six-figure bribes as he tries to seize their island
Greenlanders told the Daily Mail that President Donald Trump lacks respect for their country. They find his desire to take over Greenland 'offensive' and 'bizarre.'
Longtime Greenlanders have told the Daily Mail they are furious with President Donald Trump for once again floating the possibility of taking over their country.
Trump revived talk about the United States asserting formal control over Greenland on Sunday, one day after US soldiers captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and brought the deposed leader back to New York to face a litany of criminal charges.
'It's so strategic,' Trump told reporters on Air Force One. 'We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.'
Jørgen Bay-Kastrup is the CEO of Hotel Hans Egede, a four-star hotel in Nuuk, Greenland's capital and largest city of around 20,000 residents.
Bay-Kastrup, who has lived in Greenland for the last 11 years, said Trump's treatment of the people of Greenland has been 'disgraceful' and 'disgusting.'
'He's talking about us as if we are just some kind of tool,' said Bay-Kastrup, who is originally from Denmark. 'This is disrespectful toward our country and toward our citizens.'
Klaus Iverson, another Danish transplant to Greenland, told the Daily Mail that Trump's repeated demands to seize the country are 'offensive' and 'bizarre.'
'It is also a bit scary,' Iverson said. 'We have seen what President Trump - I wouldn't call him President Trump, just Trump - [is] capable of.'
Colorful houses line the snowy coast of Nuuk, the capital city of Greenland. The city has a population of around 20,000
Around 1,000 Greenlanders gathered in March 2025 to protest Donald Trump's plans to seize the country
The Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, are seen above Nuuk in this file photo
President Donald Trump is once again floating the idea of the United States taking over Greenland, arguing it has to be done for national security purposes
Jørgen Bay-Kastrup, the CEO of Hotel Hans Egede in Nuuk, told the Daily Mail that Trump talks about Greenlanders with no respect
Iverson, a veteran of the Danish military, is in the hospitality business as well. He and his wife run the 32-room Hotel Aurora Nuuk.
'I have been in Bosnia together with American troops. I have colleagues who died in Afghanistan and Iraq fighting alongside the US troops. So I find it extremely bizarre that Trump approaches Greenland in this manner,' said Iverson, who has lived in Greenland for the past 17 years.
Both Iverson and Bay-Kastrup bristled at a Reuters report on Thursday that claims the Trump administration is considering giving payments of $10,000 to $100,000 to Greenlanders if they agree to join the US.