Greenland politician slams Trump ‘s**tshow’ and tells President ‘cease mendacity’

Greenland’s capital mayor has revealed growing dread in Nuuk as fears mount over US warships appearing on the horizon, warning UK PM Keir Starmer not to make NATO plans for the region without consulting Greenlanders

The mayor of Greenland’s capital city has recently admitted that she is “dreading” the day that American warships appear on the horizon. Avaaraq Olsen said it is clear the fear felt among the 20,000 strong community of Nuuk is growing by the day.

The civic leader has issued a personal message to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer is currently seeking to coordinate a NATO response to the growing crisis over Greenland by sending troops for a major security force to persuade US President Donald Trump that his intervention is not necessary.

The mayor said: “Denmark or others make plans and announcements about Greenland – but they talk about us without us.

“So if Keir Starmer wants to plan anything like that, or even talk about it, he should definitely include the inhabitants of Greenland.” Speaking in her office in Nuuk’s Civic Hall, Olsen pointed to the fjord that is visible from the window and shared: “Yesterday I needed to take a walk, on the path we have on our coast line.

“There’s always this calming feeling when you listen to the ocean. I was standing myself and it was getting dark, and then a boat came and it was dark and it had no lights on.

“And suddenly I was wondering, will they (the US) come without the light? And even though I’ve been the one who’s telling everyone to keep calm I also understand that people are afraid.

“I really understand why people are looking towards the sky and the ocean for what might come.” Olsen admitted that she is normally circumspect in dealing with the media – but she has cast aside her caution due to the severity of the US threat.

She claimed that people have become distressed due to the “fake news” spread directly by Trump and his top table team – led by his son Donald Jnr, who visited Nuuk last January. She said: “To Donald Trump I would say I don’t want him here.

“That would just show another way of disrespecting us if he came.” She continued: “I really do think that they have to stop lying about Greenland.. like when he said that […] we have Russian and Chinese ships surrounding Greenland.

“That kind of state statement is also hurting people in Greenland. Really the lying has to stop.”

Olsen said older people had been traumatised by the fear of hostile ships, as they assumed that when a powerful head of state made a statement it would be true. When Trump Jnr and top ally Charlie Kirk – who was later murdered in a crime that shook the world – visited Nuuk last January, Olsen claimed another round of fake news erupted.

She said: “That was a circus – or perhaps a sh**-show. “ The mayor further stated that Trump Jnr’s people rounded up unemployed men who congregated, by habit, close to the city’s mall.

They were all offered a free lunch at a swanky restaurant and then asked to wear MAGA hats – which resulted in photos being distributed to suggest the Tump team, who arrived in Greenland on the “Trump Force 1” jet were given a great welcome by Greenlanders. Trump Jnr’s visit also brought, Olsen claimed, a situation where schoolchildren were handed $100 bills, presumably to win their hearts and minds – which she claims local people were furious at.

She said: “We had these influencers coming, and they handed out $100 bills for children. And they even went to schools, knocked on the door to the classrooms and wanted to interview children and young people, it was so ugly what happened.”

Olsen said the protesting of Greenlanders had led to US Vice President JD Vance abandoning plans to turn up in Nuuk, opting instead to visit the US military base Pituffik – where he could control the messaging. She said: “For Greenlanders, we are very not so outgoing about our opinions, and it takes a lot for us [to] demonstrate.

The existential threat to Greenland has jolted its people in a similar way to the coronavirus crisis. Olsen said: “I remember when Corona first hit, it felt surreal, like we were in a movie.

“That’s exactly how we feel right now. It’s really hard to predict what’s next.

“People have these feelings of fear yet I also see people really just trying to live our daily life. When we have the hardest time in Greenland, we laugh.

“So I think there is a lot of laughing going on, even though it’s scary. “ Olsen said the people of Greenland don’t want to be American or Danish – they want to be free.

She said families are already longing for the day they can get back to normal, with the glare of the world on them. Hopeful that a summit with Greenlandic, Danish and American political leaders next week will offer an unlikely glimmer of hope.

Olsen said: “Whatever comes of that can give us an idea of how this is going to develop from here, because right now it’s so hard to imagine. Everything changes from day to day.”

It was revealed on Sunday (January 11) that Keir Starmer was brokering talks with NATO allies about beefing up the west’s military presence in the Arctic to fend off Trump’s threat to take over Greenland. Downing Street said the PM took growing Russian aggression in the region “extremely seriously”.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, told reporters that the EU was “accelerating our work” in Greenland as part of efforts to boost “Arctic security”.

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