Amid Trump’s Greenland push, locals feel safer with Nato allies on the ground

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Protesters hold up the Greenland flag during a march to the US consulate and chant the slogan ‘Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people’, in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 15, 2025 as Trump ramps up his bid to take control of their country. — AFP pic

NUUK, Jan 17 — Greenlanders were putting cautious hope in all-out efforts to contain US President Donald Trump’s designs on their Arctic island, as European soldiers arrived in their streets and US lawmakers visited Denmark.

In this vast territory that has never fought a war of its own, the 57,000 inhabitants say that, alone, they feel helpless against the leader of a world superpower who insists he will take their home “one way or the other”.

“I feel safer,” Marie Sofie Pedersen, a social worker for the city of Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, said after the soldiers from countries including France and Germany arrived.

“I hope they won’t stay here forever, but just as long as we’re vulnerable and something could happen,” she told AFP between puffs of her cigarette.

A modest number of military personnel were deployed this week by a handful of European countries after Trump said he wants to seize the autonomous Danish territory.

Trump has insisted the United States needs strategically-located and mineral-rich Greenland for “national security”, and has criticised Denmark for – he says – not doing enough to ensure its security.

Military personnel believed to be from the German armed Forces Bundeswehr disembark a charter plane upon arrival at Nuuk international airport on January 16, 2026 in Nuuk, amid Trump’s insistence on taking mineral-rich Greenland. — AFP pic

The Republican has pursued that argument, despite Greenland – as part of Denmark – being covered by Nato’s security umbrella.

A few dozen advance troops have arrived in Nuuk in the past few days to prepare for their armies’ participation in future Danish exercises in the Arctic.

No US soldiers are among them.

While the European military presence has been relatively discreet, it has been well-received on the city’s icy streets, where Greenland’s red-and-white flag hangs from many shopfronts and buildings.

“We have to stay together in Europe,” a 39-year-old union representative who asked to remain anonymous told AFP.

“Otherwise, the Americans will crush us. We are not big enough, but together, we will be.”

Greenlandic authorities have informed the population that more Nato troops will be coming to town.

“There will be more military flights and ships,” Greenland’s deputy prime minister Mute Egede said on Wednesday.

Just hours earlier, talks at the White House between Danish, Greenlandic, and US officials failed to iron out differences between Copenhagen and Nuuk on one side and Washington on the other.

‘Strategic signaling’ 

Trump’s ambitions appear to have temporarily dampened Greenlanders’ appetite for independence, a goal they have been striving for after three centuries of Danish sovereignty.

But now is not the time, Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said this week.

“We are now facing a geopolitical crisis,” he said.

If Greenland had to choose between remaining part of Denmark or becoming part of the United States, “We choose Denmark,” Nielsen added.

According to experts, sending a small European contingent to the island is a matter of “strategic signaling” to the US.

But Washington appears unfazed.

“I don’t think troops in Europe impact the president’s decision-making process, nor does it impact his goal of the acquisition of Greenland at all,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday.

Trump claims the United States needs mineral-rich Greenland for ‘national security’, even though the country is covered by Nato’s security umbrella. — AFP pic

On Friday, a bipartisan US congressional delegation began a visit to Copenhagen to voice support for Denmark and Greenland, during which they were to meet Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart.

That provided another source of hope for Greenlanders.

“Congress would never approve of a military action in Greenland. It’s just one idiot speaking. If he does it, he’ll get impeached or kicked out,” the 39-year-old union activist said.

“If people in Congress want to save their own democracy, they have to step up.”

Not everyone sees it that way though.

Julio Sandsteen, an unemployed Nuuk resident, supports Trump’s ambitions.

“The Americans have protected the island for a long time. The Danes can’t do it,” he said.

“Trump wants to have Greenland? I love it.” — AFP