Latest news with #Nuuk
New York Times
28-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
Greenland Says Visit. But Step Lightly and Speak Softly.
Standing at sunset on the boardwalk that rims the jagged western edge of Nuuk, the Greenlandic capital, I felt simultaneously dwarfed and expanded. The glassy water of the fjord, the veins of granite that made the snow-capped mountains look like crinkle cookies, the clarity of the northern light: All these combined in their immensity to make me feel paltry, while their beauty sent my spirits soaring. But what struck me most was the profound silence that hung, weighty and dense, as if the universe had slipped a pair of noise-canceling headphones over my ears.
New York Times
11-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Trump's No. 1 Fan in Greenland: A Bricklayer Turned Political Player
In the eyes of many of his fellow Greenlanders, Jorgen Boassen is a traitor. A few weeks ago at a dive bar in Nuuk, Greenland's capital, someone slugged him in the face, sending him to the hospital. But whatever the consequences of his convictions, he insists he isn't scared. 'The United States has my back,' he said. Mr. Boassen, 51, a former bricklayer, is a fervid supporter of President Trump. He campaigned for him in the United States and helped coordinate Donald Trump Jr.'s visit to Greenland this year. On his coffee table at home, three pristine MAGA hats occupy a place of honor. While his championing of the American president — who has vowed to take over Greenland 'one way or the other' — has made Mr. Boassen unpopular at home, it has also turned him into an unlikely political player in the Arctic, a region of growing importance in a warming world eager for its untapped resources. As he lounged on a couch in his apartment on the edge of Nuuk, wearing a pink T-shirt emblazoned with Mr. Trump's face, his phone buzzed with a stream of texts from journalists and filmmakers who wanted to talk and investors who hoped he was their ticket to riches in Greenland. In the debate about the future of the world's largest island, a semiautonomous overseas territory of Denmark, Mr. Boassen has made it his mission to bring Greenland and the United States closer together. Still, Mr. Boassen noted he 'doesn't always agree' with the American president. While Mr. Trump wants to claim the island for the United States, Mr. Boassen is pushing instead for a tight security alliance between an independent Greenland and Washington. That has made him one of the most visible Greenlanders agitating to break with Denmark. 'Denmark has failed again and again,' he said. 'They are not up to the challenge of defending Greenland.' He has cultivated high-level contacts in Greenland's government and has spent the past few months working full time for an organization promoting closer U.S.-Greenland ties. 'Greenland's future looks brightest with America,' Mr. Boassen said. His transformation from bricklayer to political player began by posting prolifically on social media in support of Mr. Trump: sharing memes, defending him in comment threads and explaining his politics to a Greenlandic audience. Last year, those posts caught the eye of Tom Dans, a former Trump adviser for Arctic affairs. 'I got curious,' Mr. Dans said in an interview. 'There aren't many people in that part of the world standing up for Trump.' Mr. Dans, who used to work at the conservative Heritage Foundation, sponsored Mr. Boassen to attend a Trump campaign event in Pittsburgh last fall. During the final stretch, Mr. Boassen went door to door for Mr. Trump in Pennsylvania. The Greenlander says he loves Mr. Trump's direct communication style and that 'he's a good person, once you study him.' Born in Qaqortoq, a small coastal town in southern Greenland, Mr. Boassen was raised by a single mother and maternal grandmother with little money, in a modest home with little heat — a markedly different upbringing from that of his political idol. A quiet child, he became fascinated with politics through VHS tapes, books and television — 'the only way to see the outside world,' he said. After drifting through a string of jobs, he settled on bricklayer, building houses in Denmark. But after being discovered on social media, he now serves as Greenland director for American Daybreak, a nonprofit organization founded by Mr. Dans that promotes closer U.S.-Greenland ties. He and Mr. Dans say that he met Mr. Trump Jr. at the campaign's election night party, where he suggested a future visit to Greenland. Though Mr. Boassen said he doesn't have direct access to Mr. Trump Jr., he said he communicates with the Trump team through Mr. Dans. In March, American Daybreak helped promote a visit by Usha Vance, Vice President JD Vance's wife, to Greenland's national dog sled race. But after reports of planned protests by Greenlandic activists, the visit was changed to a brief stop by the Vances at a remote U.S. military outpost on the island. Despite its ambitions, American Daybreak's website still reads, 'Coming soon,' and its social media presence is limited to photographs of Mr. Dans in Greenland and Mr. Boassen posing with figures like Nigel Farage, Conor McGregor and Senator Ted Cruz. Although many of Greenland's 56,000 people want independence, a recent opinion poll showed 85 percent of them didn't want to become part of the United States. And some are dismissive of Mr. Boassen's efforts. 'He's just riding the populist wave,' said Frederik Kreutzmann, a social worker in Sisimiut, Greenland's second-largest town. 'I don't think much of him.' While Mr. Boassen knows that some think he's being used, he believes he's part of something bigger — and wants Greenland to seize the moment while it still has Mr. Trump's attention. 'I'm part of world history now,' Mr. Boassen said. 'Maybe I'm just a pawn in a bigger game,' he added. 'Politics is dirty, but if we don't move fast, we'll miss our chance.'
Wall Street Journal
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Trump's Threats Push Greenlanders Closer to Denmark
NUUK, Greenland— Kaj Sandgreen waited patiently in a sleek concert hall here last week, as hundreds of others lined the snow-blanketed street outside and cheered as King Frederik X of Denmark arrived. 'Unlike Trump, the king respects us,' the 63-year-old Sandgreen said minutes before shaking hands with the king, who was clad in olive cargo pants and a puffer jacket emblazoned with the red-white Greenlandic and Danish flags. 'It's so good for him to come here and show that he cares about Greenlanders at this chaotic time when we fear an invasion from the United States.'
Times of Oman
09-03-2025
- Politics
- Times of Oman
Greenland elections to be closely watched by the world
Nuuk: In normal times, this election probably wouldn't be of too much interest to the rest of the world. Around 40,000 voters will choose just 31 parliamentarians, and it will all take place on an island that isn't even fully autonomous. But these are not normal times and this election is in Greenland, which means it could prove a starting point for further geopolitical upheaval in the Northern Hemisphere. Firstly, because supporters of independence for Greenland hope the ballot may result in a strong mandate for Greenland's complete separation from Denmark. Currently Greenland, a former Danish colony, is a self-governing territory of the latter. And secondly, and probably most importantly, because US President Donald Trump has been talking about making Greenland part of the US ever since he was elected last November. Greenland's mineral wealth Trump has frequently spoken of how it would be in the interests of US security to control Greenland. Since the 1950s, the US has run the Pituffik Space Base, in the northwest of Greenland. It is the Americans' northernmost post and plays a key role in missile warnings and space surveillance. Previously, during the Cold War, it was called the Thule Air Base and was there to send early warnings and initiate defense against potential Soviet attacks. Other than security issues, economics might also play a part in Trump's claims on Greenland. In the south of Greenland, there are thought to be valuable deposits of oil, gas, gold, uranium and zinc. Thanks to climate change, which is thawing Greenland's ground out, mining these deposits will eventually become easier. During his first term in office, in 2019, Trump offered to buy Greenland. The government in Denmark swiftly rejected that. But this term, Trump has continued to express expansionist intentions, over Canada, the Panama Canal and Gaza, as well as Greenland. Even before he took up office in January, Trump sent his son, Donald Trump Jr., to Greenland — although officially he was there as a tourist. A few weeks later, a poll was published showing that only 6% of Greenlanders wanted their island to become part of the US, while 85% opposed to the idea. In his speech to Congress early in March, President Trump addressed his desire again, directing his comments to the people of Greenland. "We strongly support your right to determine your own future," Trump said. But just two sentences later, he seemed to renege on that, stating, "I think we're going to get it [Greenland] — one way or the other, we're going to get it." Foreign interference? Given this and upcoming elections, Greenland has had to deal with the possibility that there could be external attempts to influence the country's vote — for instance, from Russia or China, both of whom are also pursuing their own security agendas in the Arctic. Denmark's national security and intelligence service, PET, warned of Russian disinformation in particular. "In the weeks preceding the Greenlandic elections' date announcement, several cases of fake profiles were observed on social media, including profiles masquerading as Danish and Greenlandic politicians, which contributed to a polarisation of public opinion," PET stated, although it did not link those accounts to any specific country. Johan Farkas, an assistant professor in media studies at the University of Copenhagen, is familiar with these kinds of posts as they also circulate in Russian media. But he doesn't think they'd have much impact on Greenland's elections because, besides Danish, most locals speak Greenlandic, an Inuit language. "Greenland is a very small and tight-knit community in many ways," Farkas told DW. "And so, influencing fake accounts, or these kinds of things that we have seen in the past and in other elections, my assessment is that it's not an easy thing to do." But that doesn't mean there's nothing to worry about. "My concern as a disinformation researcher has more been around how this plays out in macro-politics. Would we suddenly see Elon Musk hosting live podcast interviews with specific candidates or Trump endorsing specific candidates? That is a very problematic and threatening thing for a free and fair election," Farkas argues, referring to the weeks before Germany's own recent federal election.
