Andrew Harding Lute, Harding Reporting from Greenland Luiters
Greenland’s cultural tour by JD Vance’s wife Usha has been cancelled
The green glitter formed by the incredibly bright star above Nook late on Friday evening, as curtains of light are painted across the night sky.
The magnificent aurora exterior – the wonders that are common in these parts – appeared to mark the end of a very important day in the Arctic Circle.
It was the day the foreign powers that they acquired sent uninvited delegations to the world’s largest island with an unpleasant message.
On a brief visit to a remote US military base far north of Greenland, US Vice President JD Vance may have tried to ease the stated purpose of his superiors to simply annex the territory of autonomous Danish.
“I don’t think it’s going to require military strength,” Vance said.
However, the Vice President’s comprehensive message remained harsh and intimidating. The world, climate and the Arctic are changing rapidly, and Greenland needs to awaken to the threat posed by expansionist China. A long-standing Western Security Partnership has been running the course. The only way an island can protect itself, its value and its mineral wealth, is to abandon the weak Danish overlord and turn it into a muscular, protective embrace of the United States.
“We need to awaken from the 40-year failed consensus that they said they can ignore the invasion of a powerful nation as they expand their ambitions.
“We can’t bury our heads in the sand — or in Greenland we bury our heads in the snow, pretending that the Chinese are not interested in this very large land,” Vance told our troops at Pitafik’s base.
Looking at a map of the world, which has an Arctic in the centre rather than the equator, we see how Greenland is suddenly overlooked from the grumpy and often overlooked dirt of unmanned territory, turning it into a place name that is often overlooked, centered around many analysts accepting it as a new power struggle to control China, the US and Russia, in order to control China, the US and Russia.
However, speed and light emptying, when the Trump White House rejected traditional reliance on Western allies, especially NATO, has baffled its partners.
“Not justified” was the response of Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredericksen’s brist after hearing Vance attack her government while standing on sovereign territory.
“Like a threat.”
However, 1,500km (930 miles) south of the American Pitaffic Base in the Greenland capital, Nouk, attracted attention at a very different local event on Friday.
“We’ll win,” the smiling crowd sang at a ceremony celebrating the formation of a new Union government for Greenland.
The mood was almost joyful and community, people were rocking their arms and gently swaying as a band played in the town’s cultural houses.
It was a powerful reminder of shared values that united small, overwhelmingly native Inuit groups in Greenland – the need for consensus and cooperation in the often hostile natural climate, the desire to protect and celebrate Inuit culture, and the desire to be respected by the familiar but distant Denmark or close to the limits of America.
“There are many ways to say things, but I think it’s the way. [Trump] He says that it’s not the way. It’s like a threat,” said 43-year-old Lisbeth Carlein Paulsen, a local artist attending the ceremony.
Her reaction seemed to capture a broader mood here – a recent poll showed that she supports the idea that only 6% of the population is part of the United States.
A journey to independence
Under that new government, and with overwhelming public support, Greenland is slowly and very careful about its movement towards full independence from Denmark.
It’s probably a process that takes years and involves a long dialogue with both Copenhagen and Washington.
After all, the Greenlanders are well aware that the economy needs to develop much more for independence bids to maintain realistic opportunities for success.
But they need to balance their development.
It brings us to the fundamental chaos of Greenland and beyond, about the Trump administration’s approach to their territory.
What does America want?
On his visit, Vance referred to Greenland’s desire for independence, implying that America’s true intentions were far more patient and long-term, rather than a sudden annexation of the island.
“Our message is very simple. Yes, the people of Greenland will be self-deterred. I hope they choose to partner with the United States as they are the only country on the planet that respects their sovereignty and respects their security.”
If it’s really the American pitch – Trump’s message remains more aggressive than Vance – the Greenlanders certainly can relax a little and take their time.
There are still massive reserves of good intentions towards the US here, and there is a strong interest in doing more business with American businesses.
On the security front, the 74-year-old treaty with Denmark allows the United States to increase its military presence in Greenland at any time from new bases to submarine ports.
What’s puzzling is Donald Trump’s impatience. The same impatience he showed when he tried to negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine.
Although it does not own Greenland, the United States was able to get it from this vast island without making it too difficult for what it wanted or needs. Instead, many people in Nuuk feel that they are being bullied.
This is a very counter-effective approach, already forcing Washington to do humiliating climbs. A planned cultural tour by Vance’s wife, Usha, is another town in the face of planned local protests.
Later, more respectful, behind the scenes engagement certainly makes more sense.
But that’s not the taste of all politicians.
