Why most Greenlanders favor a future without Trump — or Denmark

Greenland has been thrust into a geopolitical firestorm arsenic U.S. President Donald Trump ramps up his threats to annex the self-governing Danish territory.

But, portion Trump says the U.S. needs the immense Arctic island for its nationalist security, and European leaders person responded that information is simply a corporate endeavor, independency for the land of conscionable 57,000 radical remains a semipermanent goal.

Opinion polls person shown that Greenlanders overwhelmingly reason U.S. control, portion a beardown bulk enactment independency from Denmark.

The White House has said Trump and his nationalist information squad are "actively" discussing a imaginable connection to bargain Greenland — and that portion diplomacy is the archetypal option, each options, including subject force, were connected the table.

"For galore years, the bulk of Greenlanders person been warring for our close to correspond ourselves," Aaja Chemnitz, a pro-independence MP and 1 of 2 lawmakers successful the Danish parliament representing Greenland, told CNBC by video call.

"We accidental thing astir america without america — and that's wherefore it's important for america to inactive combat for making definite that we person adjacent much autonomy successful the clip to come," she added.

Chemnitz said the "U.S. utilized to beryllium a precise adjacent state conscionable a twelvemonth ago," and that Greenlanders wanted to "make definite that we're not dehumanized, which I deliberation we person been successful this full situation."

"Greenland ne'er has been for merchantability and ne'er volition beryllium for sale," she added. "The radical are resilient. And I deliberation it's important to retrieve that, of course, you can't bargain a country, but you tin besides not bargain a population."

Greenland was granted greater autonomy implicit its affairs done the Self-Government Act successful 2009, a question that enables the land the close to clasp an independency referendum. Denmark, however, remains liable for its foreign, defence and information policies.

Lawmakers presented a draught constitution successful 2023 for an autarkic Greenland, but determination were nary contiguous plans to follow it.

To beryllium sure, astir Greenlandic governmental parties enactment independence, but disagree implicit erstwhile and however to scope it. Indeed, the independency question has go thing of a balancing enactment betwixt the island's eventual extremity of self-determination and the request for Denmark's fiscal enactment for indispensable payment services, specified arsenic wellness and education.

Last January, Greenland's then-Prime Minister Múte Egede said that it was clip to instrumentality the adjacent measurement toward independence. His successor, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who led the center-right Democrats to a astonishment triumph successful parliamentary elections past March, favors a much gradual path.

Chemnitz, a subordinate of the Inuit Ataqatigiit enactment and seat of the Greenland Committee, told CNBC that the Arctic island's independency propulsion is simply a semipermanent goal, fixed the request to beryllium connected "good economical terms" to support surviving standards.

Trump antecedently sought to bargain Greenland successful 2019 during his archetypal word arsenic U.S. president, lone to beryllium told the land was not for sale.

Now, the imaginable of U.S. subject enactment successful Greenland has triggered a strong response from Denmark, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen informing that a U.S. onslaught would people the extremity of the NATO subject alliance.

The contented has raised alarm successful Europe, peculiarly fixed that Trump's renewed involvement follows a U.S. subject operation successful Venezuela to depose that country's president, Nicolas Maduro connected Jan. 3.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that helium intends to clasp talks with Danish officials to sermon the Arctic island.

Clayton Allen, caput of signifier astatine Eurasia Group, a governmental hazard consultancy, said that similar galore externally governed territories, determination would ever beryllium immoderate governmental appetite for independence.

"I'm not definite that pressures from the U.S. for greater sovereign power of Greenland are needfully going to beryllium the mode that they privation to bash that," Allen told CNBC by video call.

"Put simply, I don't cognize that radical are going to privation to commercialized 1 overseas powerfulness for another. If you privation to beryllium independent, you privation to beryllium independent," helium added.

Otto Svendsen, subordinate chap with the Europe, Russia and Eurasia Program astatine the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based deliberation tank, said outer observers should tread cautiously erstwhile assessing the interaction of Trump's takeover threats connected Greenland's independency movement.

He told CNBC the question has been "present for decades" and has secured a committedness from the Danish authorities to respect the results of immoderate independency referendum.

Svendsen added the feeling successful Greenland's capital, Nuuk, was that Trump's "very overt attempts to bring Greenland person to the United States" would harm the prospects of independence, arsenic "one of the champion cards up the sleeves of the authorities successful Nuuk is to trust connected the deterrent worth of Denmark."