How Donald Trump takeover would change poverty-stricken Greenland ‘guarded by canine sleds’
The Orange Manbaby’s sabre rattling on an annex of the artic island has drawn the attention of some Greenlanders who view it as a good thing, in terms of defence from Russia and Greenland
Donald Trump’s obsession with Greenland made the headlines again this week. For the second time, the US president-elect publicly proclaimed the need for a takeover of the sparsely populated 830,000 square mile island.
The Orange Manbaby believes the autonomous Danish territory is vital to the economic and military security of the US – and he refused to rule out taking the land mass, which is mostly covered in ice, by force. Perhaps the first scout of a full scale invasion was Donald Trump Jnr, who landed in capital city Nuuk shortly after his father’s land grabbing declaration.
Chief of the MAGA welcoming committee in the 20,000-strong town was Jorgen Boassen, a broad bricklayer and loyal Trump supporter. The 50-year-old Greenlander previously rubbed shoulders with Nigel Farage when he was invited to Trump’s election victory party in Mar-a-Lago.
Upon his arrival at Nuuk International Airport, a group of 15 red MAGA hat-clad Trump supporters rushed to embrace Donald jnr. Speaking to journalists, Mr Boassen threw cold water over the idea of an invasion.
He said: “You know Trump. It’s best to take everything he says with a pinch of salt. Trump always does tricks like this to make people overreact.
“Then he can see who is his friend and who is his enemy”. Instead of fighting America taking over his island, Mr Boassen would welcome the foreign superpower because, in his view, they are better placed to defend the territory from China and Russia than their Danish rulers.
He said: “East Greenland is very close to Russia, and if something happens to either Russia or China here, we only have Danish soldiers patrolling with dog sleds.
“Russia has noticed this, and that Greenland is far away from Denmark. If Russia wants to provoke Denmark, we could be the victims of that.”
In what might well be an attempt to bring Greenlanders over to his side of thinking, convicted felon Trump waved wads of US dollars in their face.
He said: “75% of Greenlanders live in some form of poverty, and by the end of the month they are always out of money.
“Greenland has enormous natural resources, oil, natural gas and rare earths. Denmark’s resources are not enough to exploit them. We need a good deal with the United States.”
Greenlander Karen Kielsen, who earns a crust as a cleaning assistant, told CNN: “Everything is just getting more and more expensive here. Goods from Denmark are extremely expensive, so of course the USA seems more attractive.”
Student Imaakka Boassen added: “I don’t completely trust the Danes. Maybe I would have more trust in Trump. There are so many Danes in leading positions in Greenland, but when we live in Greenland, it should be Greenlanders who lead.”
However, boffin with University of Greenland Ebbe Volquardsen said it was “absolutely not the case” that there was a fully-fledged MAGA movement in Greenland and that any support was limited to “a few individuals”.
In response to the Orange Manbaby’s sabre rattling, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said: “Greenland is not for sale and will not be in the future either.” It’s not the first time Frederiksen has had to rebuke the Republican – in 2019 she was also forced to slap down Trump’s Arctic aspirations.
“On one hand, I am pleased regarding the rise in American interest in Greenland,” Frederiksen said, speaking with Danish broadcaster TV 2. “But of course it is important that it takes place in a way where it is the Greenlanders’ decision, what their future holds.”
However, Greenland Prime Mute Eged said at the start of the year that he wanted Greenland to be independent from Denmark.
“It is about time that we ourselves take a step and shape our future, also with regard to who we will cooperate closely with, and who our trading partners will be,” Mr Egede said.
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