In the general elections held on Tuesday in Greenland to elect the 31 members of the Inatsisartut (Greenland’s parliament), the opposition Democrats secured the largest share of the vote. The election was dominated by President Donald Trump’s expressed desire to make Greenland part of the United States, and, as Qupanuk Olsen, a political supporter of Greenlandic Independence, put it in an interview on Sky News, “It’s making us aware, we are worth more than what the Danish people have been telling us for the last 300 years, maybe we can stand on our own two feet.”
Trump’s interest in Greenland is part of his aggressive “America First” foreign policy. This approach also includes demands for Ukraine to cede mineral rights in exchange for continued military aid, threats to seize control of the Panama Canal, and suggestions that Canada should become the 51st US state.
???️ #Greenland votes Tuesday in pivotal #elections that may set a path to independence, an objective supported by most residents.
US President #Trump‘s bid to acquire the Arctic island has met mixed reactions among its 57,000 inhabitants.@cloviscasali is on the ground ? pic.twitter.com/9ryvW9eMNx
— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) March 11, 2025
As of Tuesday, it appears that very few of Greenland’s 56,421 citizens are interested. Greenland’s pro-business Demokraatit opposition party won Tuesday’s election with 29.9% of the vote, more than either coalition party.
The Demokraatit leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, described Trump’s ambition as “a threat to our political independence,” adding, “We don’t want to be Americans. No, we don’t want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders. And we want our own independence in the future. And we want to build our own country by ourselves, not with his hope.”
According to Tuesday’s results, the previous two-party coalition – consisting of Inuit Ataqatigiit and the Siumut party – is expected to lose its parliamentary majority, although it, too, was against Trump’s annexation offer. The coalition secured a combined 36.1% of the vote, a significant decline from 66.1% in 2021.
In the final debate on Greenland’s state broadcaster KNR late on Monday, leaders of the five parties currently in parliament unanimously declared that they did not trust Trump.
Qulliq, the only party whose chairman has expressed trust in Donald Trump, received 1.1% of the vote.
WHO NEEDS GREENLAND?
The AP cited Dwayne Menezes, managing director of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative, who pointed out that climate change is thinning the Arctic ice, potentially opening up a northwest passage for international trade and reigniting competition with Russia, China, and other countries over access to the region’s valuable mineral resources.
“Let us be clear: we are soon entering the Arctic Century, and its most defining feature will be Greenland’s meteoric rise, sustained prominence, and ubiquitous influence,” Menezes said.
Greenland, located off the northeastern coast of Canada with more than two-thirds of its territory within the Arctic Circle, has been crucial to North American defense since World War II. The US occupied Greenland to prevent it from falling to the Nazis and to protect vital North Atlantic shipping lanes. In peacetime, the US has maintained military bases in Greenland, including the Pituffik Space Base, which supports missile warning, missile defense, and space surveillance operations for the US and NATO. Greenland is also a strategic area where NATO tracks Russian naval movements in the North Atlantic.
Denmark ruled Greenland as a colony until 1953, when the huge island (it is one-fourth the size of Australia) gained self-governance. In 2009, Greenland acquired more authority over minerals, policing, and the legal system. However, Denmark still retains control over security, defense, foreign policy, and monetary policy. Denmark also facilitates Greenland’s membership in the European Union and NATO.
