Ole Jørgen Hammeken was at sea far inside the Arctic Circle when the Inuit elder found a crumpled old business card in the pocket of his leather jacket that had survived nearly a decade of blizzards and storms. . It belongs to Donald Trump Jr.

The young Trump met Hammeken in 2016, hoping the Greenland resident and veteran polar explorer would take him musk ox hunting with a bow and arrow in the island’s northern tip. But his father ran for president of the US and the trip failed.

Now, nearly a decade later, the Trumps are back Greenland.

Trump Jr landed in the capital of Nuuk for a surprise five-hour visit this week, shortly after Donald Trumponce again the US president, said he wants to buy the island – which is part of the kingdom of Denmark – and refused to rule out the use of military force to do so.

It threw the vast, ice-covered land, whose 57,000 people live in some of the coldest and most remote corners of the world, into a geopolitical storm. EU leaders are struggling to respond to an apparent territorial threat from a NATO ally.

In Nuuk, where temperatures are below zero for most of the year and daylight hours are short in winter, Trump’s comments alarmed many. Greenlanders, many Nuuk residents said, avoid conflict in everyday life, and were shocked by Trump’s aggressive tone.

“For some, it’s scary,” Hammeken said.

Many people were hurt, Kuupik Kleist, a former prime minister of Greenland, said. They did not enjoy their homeland being discussed as a real estate deal.

“You don’t just go and buy a country, or its people,” Kleist said.

But Hammeken believes there is an upside to Trump’s interest in the island.

Many Greenlanders are familiar with the president-elect’s style and know he is not literal, Hammeken said. They are glad that he has thrust the question of Greenland’s future into the global spotlight.

“Now Denmark must listen,” Hammeken said.

Colonized by Denmark in the 18th century, Greenland has long lobbied for more self-rule. Although it is now an autonomous Danish territory and has decision-making power on most subjects except foreign policy and security, all Greenlanders the FT spoke to in Nuuk said they wanted more political control.

“No one here wants to be part of the US, but they want more influence on things,” said Bolette Nielsen, a mining consultant from a small cluster of towns and settlements in east coast of Greenland.

In a café near the old Colonial Harbor district of Nuuk, where a statue of a Danish-Norwegian missionary floats in the fjord and is regularly painted over by protesters, Nielsen said the biggest political fault line in Greenland runs between those who want more autonomy as part of Denmark, and those who feel that Greenland can completely go it alone.

Either way, “Trump has a lot to do with”, Nielsen said. “Denmark should listen to Greenland more. We have been crying for a long time.”

The Greenlanders gave many reasons for wanting to get rid of Danish rule. Some described personal experiences of discrimination, while others talked about the inequity of pensions and salaries between Greenlanders and Danes, or differences in the provision of services such as higher education and health care.

Most notably, however, people cite recent revelations that in the 1960s, Danish doctors inserted contraceptive coils into thousands of Inuit women without their consent, an act described by Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede which is a form of “genocide”.

Last Friday – as a Nuuk center news ticker played Trump’s comments on a loop – Egede said in a press conference that the island does not want to be part of the US or Denmark. It wants freedom.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen responded that it was “legitimate and understandable”.

Hammeken said the exchange showed that “the balance between Greenland and Denmark has changed a lot in the last few days,” thanks to Trump.

But many Greenlanders believe the island does not have a strong enough economy to simply cut ties with Copenhagen and go on its own. This issue is expected to dominate the next election, due in the spring.

“When people talk about independence, I don’t fully understand what that means,” said John Hansen, a musician in Nuuk. Despite feeling strongly about his local identity – Hansen has compiled a book of Greenlandic poems and songs – the artist says independence advocates have no plans.

Greenland, the world’s largest island, remains financially dependent on Denmark, with 53 percent of its budget in 2024 made up of a direct grant from Copenhagen. “How that changed is a mystery to me,” Kleist said.

“We just live by the sea now, and little tourism,” he said. Fishing accounts for 90 percent of Greenland’s exports, and the industry is the second largest employer after the state.

Nielsen said Greenland was “too small and too weak” and needed to “strengthen other areas”.

One of the must places miningpeople in Greenland’s business community said.

Although many international companies have licenses to dig, and the island is rich in precious minerals and rare earths, few projects have been realized due to government regulation and the logistical challenges presented by the landscape. .

Trump’s comments have boosted share prices in some local mining projects in recent days, with one industry insider describing a “gold rush” feeling in the air.

In the snow-covered harbor of Nuuk, where small fishing boats and trawlers cut a path through chunks of floating ice to get to sea, fishermen sneered at the idea of ​​joining the US. But they say there is value in diversifying trade with Greenland.

“In fishing, we think we want to sell in America, not just in Denmark,” said Pavia Rasmussen as she ate a breakfast of raw seal meat in a port clubhouse. “We think this could mean a better price for the fish.”

More trade freedom could also mean cheaper food imports from the US, said Nils, another fisherman. “Food from Denmark is very expensive.”

Climate change is making the work of Greenland fishermen more difficult, the men said. They had traveled through stormy weather and long winter nights. Now the melting ice caps are affecting the fish supply, said Ulrich, the head of a trawler and fish processing plant.

Those same climate changes are opening up Arctic waters for more navigation and therefore competition for natural resources. Greenland, Ulrich felt, was caught in the middle of “Trump’s big game with Russia and China”.

Trump cited US national security as the main reason he wanted Greenland, which is home to a major US military base.

Greenlanders hoping for independence say they recognize the island cannot provide for its own defense. But they think military support, as well as trade deals, could come from many places.

“Greenland is at the stage where it wants to have options,” the former government official said, adding that politicians were “courting” several countries, including talking to the UK.

Trump Jr.’s visit to Nuuk this week lasted just a few hours, but continued to speak to residents for days. Local media reported that some of the people seen wearing ‘Make America Great Again’ hats at a meeting were lured there by the promise of a free meal at an expensive restaurant.

But even the local co-ordinator of the trip – Jørgen Boassen, a Greenlandic bricklayer and Maga fan who knocked on doors for Trump in the US during the election campaign – told Norwegian outlet VG that Trump’s comments about wanting to buy Greenland should be “taken with a pinch of salt.”

It’s about the message it sends.

“He came here to show Russia and China that Trump is here,” he said.