Greenlandic Trump supporter, Jørgen Boassen being interviewed in Cafe Pascucci in Nuuk, Greenland.Malik Brøns/The Globe and Mail
It’s hard to imagine any Greenlander more fanatical about Donald Trump than Jorgen Boassen, but even he doesn’t believe the president-elect is serious about annexing the ice-covered island that has been part of the Danish realm for centuries.
Mr. Boassen is a 50-year-old bricklayer from Nuuk who’s been a vocal supporter of Mr. Trump ever since his first run for office in 2015. He knocked on doors for the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania last fall, and he celebrated the election victory at a private party in Palm Beach, Fla., with high-profile supporters such as British politician Nigel Farage. On Monday, he’s off to Florida and Washington to hang out with team Trump and attend the inauguration.
He was thrust into the global spotlight last week when he played host to Donald Trump Jr., who was on a short visit to Nuuk, the capital. The trip came just as the elder Mr. Trump was musing about taking over Greenland as a national-security priority. Asked at a news conference if he would consider using military force, the president-elect didn’t rule it out.
Mr. Trump’s intervention rattled leaders in Nuuk and Copenhagen, who have been at pains to insist that Greenland is not for sale, but it has been a godsend for Mr. Boassen and others who believe it could pave the way for Greenland’s independence.
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During lunch on Saturday at the Pascucci restaurant in downtown Nuuk, Mr. Boassen was basking in his newfound notoriety and the fuss that Mr. Trump had caused. Decked out in a black T-shirt emblazoned with the famous photograph of a bloodied Mr. Trump raising his fist, and the caption “American Badass,” Mr. Boassen explained how he viewed Mr. Trump’s comments.
“It’s not about taking over Greenland. No one can buy us.” he said. “They will not come here and shoot us all down.”
He believes that Mr. Trump wants to work directly with Greenland and bypass Denmark, on bolstering the U.S. military presence on the island and developing its rich natural resources.
“I know Denmark cannot meet the challenge here with infrastructure and minerals. I’m saying now we should start co-operation with the U.S.,” he said.
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Independence has been a dream of many Greenlanders for decades, and some sovereigntists see Mr. Trump’s outbursts as a powerful lever that could help make it happen.
“Donald Trump has put Greenland on the map and now the focus is not on Copenhagen. The focus is on Nuuk,” said Kuno Fencker, an MP from the Siumut party, which is part of Greenland’s governing coalition.
Denmark has controlled the island since the early 1700s, and while Greenland has been given autonomy over a number of areas, Copenhagen still has decision-making authority when it comes to foreign policy and defence. Mr. Fencker said it’s time for Greenland to stand on its own.
Member of Greenlandic parliament, Inatsisartut, Kuno Fencker in Cafe Pascucci in Nuuk, Greenland.Malik Brøns/The Globe and Mail
“Greenland should be able to negotiate directly, without the middleman of Denmark, in regards to our foreign policies as a sovereign state,” he said, adding that annexation by the U.S. is not the issue. “It’s non-negotiable in regards to our aspirations to become a sovereign state. We are absolutely willing to make a compact or free association with Denmark and the U.S.”
The first step, he added, was weaning Greenland off its reliance on Denmark, which provides more than half of the local government’s budget. That requires diversifying the local economy away from fishing and developing Greenland’s vast mineral wealth. The U.S., he argued, was better placed to provide that investment than Denmark or any other world power, such as China, which also has designs on Greenland.
Denmark annexed Greenland without any local consent, he noted, “so they’re no better than the statements of Donald Trump.”
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Despite Mr. Fencker’s enthusiasm, few Greenlanders expect sovereignty to happen any time soon, given the island’s small population – just 57,000 – and its fiscal attachment to Denmark. But resentment toward Danes has been building.
Most workers earn less in Greenland than they would in Denmark, even for the same job, but the cost of living is much higher here. Danish men have also been accused for years of fathering children in Greenland and then abandoning them upon returning to Denmark.
Darker aspects of Denmark’s colonial past have also come to light, driving a further wedge in relations.
Among the most damning revelations concerns forced contraception in the 1960s and 1970s. It’s believed that as many as 4,500 Greenlandic girls were fitted with intrauterine devices, or IUDs, in order to control the population.
Joha Hoegh, 70, is among thousands of Greenland women who were fitted with contraceptive devices known as coils in the 1960s and 1970s without their consent. Ms. Hoegh was just 14-years old when a Danish doctor inserted an intrauterine device, or IUD, into her womb. She managed to have the IUD removed years later and she gave birth to a daughter, but she is still haunted by the memory.Malik Brøns/The Globe and Mail
Johanne Hoegh was 14 years old when doctors inserted an IUD into her womb. She was living in the small town of Qaqortoq in southern Greenland at the time. “You are only 14 years old. Your teacher and the Danish doctor work together to do that,” recalled Ms. Hoegh, who is now 70.
She managed to have the IUD removed years later in Copenhagen and she gave birth to a daughter. But she still shudders at the memory of what happened. “I can see when I look back that it has been very damaging for us, because of the fear in us,” she said.
She works with homeless people in Qaqortoq and she has become politically active. She was in Nuuk over the weekend for a strategy session with a centre-right party called Atassut, which favours close ties with the U.S. but doesn’t support Greenland independence.
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Young Greenlanders have been turning their backs on Denmark by learning English, said Angutinnguaq Schmidt, 35, who works with teenagers in Nuuk.
Most children speak Greenlandic at home and they’re taught all of their subjects at school in Danish. They learn English on their own from YouTube and video games, Mr. Schmidt said, and they see it as a way of being part of the international community.
“The young people are feeling that they are ready to become independent and they want to take the next step,” he added.
One of Mr. Trump’s campaign organizers, Texas businessman Tom Dans, was in Nuuk last week to discuss independence and drive home the president-elect’s ambitions for Greenland.
Tom Dans is an investor from Texas who is a long-time Trump supporter and has a keen interest in Greenland.Malik Brøns/The Globe and Mail
“He’s inviting them to become a state,” Mr. Dans said. “The Greenlandic response is, ‘We want to be independent first, but we’ll talk.’ ”
Mr. Dans is a former Trump appointee to the U.S. Arctic Research Commission and has a long-standing interest in Greenland’s future and its relationship with the U.S.
“It may well end up there,” he added, referring to U.S. statehood. “Nobody would be happier than me, but it’s the Greenlanders’ choice. I think that Greenlanders would be very happy as Americans.”
Mr. Dans has been in regular contact with Mr. Boassen for about a year, and the construction worker got a lesson in political organizing when Mr. Trump’s son came to town.
He had only a couple of days to organize Donald Jr.’s visit and said that he had to invite several homeless people to fill up a local restaurant for a small rally. The event included a phone call from Mr. Trump, who told the gathering that America would protect Greenland.
Mr. Boassen said he used to get laughed at for backing Mr. Trump but that he has been receiving messages of support all week. He has been so caught up in the excitement that he’s considering running for office in the coming Greenland election, although he’s not sure which party he might join.
“Maybe I’ll start a Republican Party here,” he said with a smile.
The Globe's Paul Waldie is in Greenland's capital city, Nuuk, where locals have told him the U.S. president-elect's recent musings about buying or using military force to take over the island from Denmark have drawn an important discussion of Greenland's independence back to the surface.
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