March 12, 2025

"There's a sense that Denmark doesn't respect Greenland and that there's this long legacy of racism, exploitation, treating Greenlanders as second class citizens."

"And Greenlanders come from a different culture. They're part of this wider Inuit community that lives in the Arctic Circle in Alaska and Canada and parts of Russia. They have their own language, their own traditions, their own history of how they survive in this very hostile environment. And I met a number of people who said that they were mistreated, they were made fun of, that they were called racial slurs. I also heard a lot about the colonial legacy and things that Denmark had done when Greenland was a colony. They destroyed local traditions. They outlawed some of the religious practices that Greenlanders had been doing for centuries. And there was this scandal in the 1960s and 70s where Danish doctors were inserting IUD birth control devices into Greenlandic girls as young as, like, 12 in an attempt to keep the population down. And they did this to thousands of girls without them really understanding what was being done to them. And this was kept secret until just a few years ago. And when this scandal broke and the news spread that all these women in Greenland had been subject to this, it caused a lot of anger towards Denmark, all these things together. That's what brings us to this moment where just about everybody now wants independence."

From "Trump’s Bid for Greenland," yesterday's episode of the NYT "Daily" podcast. Audio and transcript here, at Podscribe.

And here's today's news from Greenland, as reported in the NYT: "In Trump’s Shadow, Greenland Votes for a New Government/President Trump has expressed a desire to 'get' Greenland, but the party that won Tuesday’s election is in no rush to change the status quo":
With all votes counted early Wednesday morning, the winner was Demokraatit, a party that has been critical of Mr. Trump’s rhetoric. It has taken a moderate stance on the subject of independence from Denmark, which most Greenland politicians support as a long-term goal.

But in second place was a party, Naleraq, that has pushed hard for independence sooner — which some of its members have said would enable Greenland to associate more freely with other countries, including the United States.... 
Kuno Fencker of Naleraq, who is Greenland’s most pro-Trump politician, got far more votes than he did in the last election, in 2021. Mr. Fencker, an advocate for independence as soon as possible, attended Mr. Trump’s inauguration and took a tour of the West Wing, and his push for stronger ties with the United States drew fierce criticism from his rivals, some of whom labeled him a traitor. In a recent podcast, Mr. Fencker argued that Mr. Trump had been “misunderstood.”...

45 comments:

Dave Begley said...

Well, Mr. Trump is certainly misunderstood by the NYT. Hated too.

Wince said...

I guess the Danes aren’t so Great after all?

Kate said...

They're cautious about -- or afraid of -- unlatching from the Danish teat.

tim maguire said...

Trump did not help himself with the “we’ll get Greenland one way or another” line. Whereas he would probably have an easy time getting what he wants by clearly supporting Greenland independence and emphasizing future US—Greenland cooperation. (Same could be said of Canada, where he picked an unnecessary fight on the eve of elections where the conservative party was set up for a landslide win.)

Bob Boyd said...

Danish doctors were inserting IUD birth control devices into Greenlandic girls as young as, like, 12 in an attempt to keep the population down

A classic Progressive-style eugenics program.

BudBrown said...

That happens to Trump a lot. Maybe he could get The People to sing the Animals' Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood.

Kevin said...

Old NYT: Trump can’t get Greenland no matter what he says.

New NYT: Trump could have easily had Greenland but he said the wrong thing.

Tom T. said...

If they break away from Denmark, they're going to be poor and restless, and you-break-it-you-bought-it is going to mean that everyone will be looking at us to buy them things and let them into our country. Hope it's worth it.

MadisonMan said...

I mean, if I were Greenland, I'd be playing one country off another. That's how you get funding. Want a new airport built? Well, you just ask the USA and China and Russia and see who gives you the better deal.

Bob Boyd said...

Check out this video entitled "The Price of Greenland" from a native guy, "Joseph from Greenland". He speaks excellent English, but goes to his native tongue and to Danish a little when he gets going on the topic.
It's posted on the Partii Naleraq Facebook page, but he doesn't sound particularly warm to the idea of becoming American. Very interesting and well-spoken.
"Joe Rogan I'm still looking for my invite"
Link:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/547345694971142/?__tn__=R*F

Bob Boyd said...

There are some great pics of the people and a fantastic one of a swimming polar bear on that page too.

Leland said...

Greenland is more important to the US and NATO than Ukraine. The West treats Greenland as unimportant at its peril.

Big Mike said...

Want a new airport built? Well, you just ask the USA and China and Russia and see who gives you the better deal.

Greenland already has an airport, and a perfectly usable former WWII air base that used to be used as an airport but today is decommissioned. What they don’t have are roads interconnecting their settlements.

Christopher B said...

Gee, the issue might be more nuanced than what the DNC stenographers in the MSM present as the narrative? Where have I heard that before?

ganderson said...

“Oh, Greenland is a dreadful place
It's a place that's never green
Where there's ice and snow, and the whale fishes blow
And the daylight's seldom seen, brave boys
The daylight's seldom seen”

Courtesy of the very underrated Chad Mitchell Trio

Bob Boyd said...

Here's the polar bear

Larry J said...

Greenland should try “The Mouse That Roared” strategy and declare war on the US. Only, unlike the Duchy of Grand Fenwick, be sure to lose.

Wince said...

Did Trump use the wrong word “get”?

The reality must sink in that Greenland will be gotten. The question is do Greenlanders understand and are indifferent to what that truly means for them if it’s Russia or China that “gets” them instead?

rehajm said...

Greenland already has an airport, and a perfectly usable former WWII air base that used to be used as an airport but today is decommissioned

I used to live along the flight path for the National Guard base that ferried supplies to Greenland with those orange-nosed C-130 Hercs. Sometimes skiis sometimes not. I know because those suckers get low on the glide path quite early on final…

Big Mike said...

Courtesy of the very underrated Chad Mitchell Trio

Another fan!

Big Mike said...

I’d like to have the unvarnished truth from America’s own Inuit up in Alaska as to how we’ve treated them.

Lazarus said...

This is sort of a Boomer thing, n'est-ce pas? Alaska and Hawaii became states and there was a "Wow! What a country!" feeling. "We're big and we're still growing." If you want to be great, you build things and you grow bigger.

Trump is a Boomer from the tri-state area. Those of similar background may be able to identify with that, in spite of Trump's great wealth and unique personality. Clinton was Arkansas, his wife was Wellesley, Obama was Indonesia and Hawaii, W. came from Bushland, but Donald is from Queens.

Greg Hlatky said...

Denmark will respond in the modern European manner and cancel the election results until voters learn what their choice must be.

mikee said...

The main thing about Greenland is to keep the Chinese military out of Greenland.

Howard said...

What struck me about this podcast which I listen to yesterday morning is the two very bright highly accomplished journalists had no idea of the strategic importance of Greenland when they first heard of Trump's interest in it. It's like they have no idea that the basis of all international intelligence is geography.

Krumhorn said...

I once flew a C-117 from Goose Bay into Narsarsuaq. That was one hell of an approach I would not wish to repeat. It was an echo of an experience I had as a kid reading a book by Ernest Gann when he did the same under far worse conditions during WW II.

- Krumhorn

Dogma and Pony Show said...

I don't know how much progress will be made toward acquiring Greenland during Trump's presidency. However, on this and several other fronts, I appreciate Trump's willingness to test the limits of what is achievable for the U.S. For example, we've been told for years that America can't be a manufacturing giant -- those days are gone. Trump says no, we can and will. Is he right? We'll see. But let's find out.

Same with the supposed inevitability of an entrenched federal bureaucracy that's too big and dug-in to ever yield its power over the government and the nation. Trump is trying to take a wrecking ball to that bureaucracy. I don't know how well this will ultimately succeed, but it certainly seems worth trying.

On issue after issue, Trump is testing prior assumptions. Reagan gets credit for shaking up the status quo, but his program mainly consisted of tax cuts and projected a more muscular foreign policy (backed by increased military spending). With Trump, it's much more of an across-the-board thing. He sees something that's growth-limiting, punishing to working people or to the non-woke, "unfair" to America, or just too expensive and ineffective, and he goes after it. His batting average on these may end up being fairly modest, but at least we'll have a much better idea at the end of the process which "inevitable" realities -- which "new normals" -- are truly inevitable and real and which are simply gaslighting.

Wince said...

The specter of who else will “get” Greenland is likely the strongest card in the US’s hand in negotiations, not a weakness.

Realpolitik!

Blair said...

Greenland as an independent country would be one of the smallest on earth in terms of population. Texas has 150 counties and most of them have a higher population than Greenland. They would be much better served as a US territory IMO.

JIM said...

America has 2 major political parties, one is America First, the other, America Last.

Kevin said...

Larry David: Do you respect Greenland, Denmark?

Denmark: Ehh yes, I do respect Greenland. Why?

Larry David: You've demonstrated a consistent lack of respect for Greenland as I see it.

Big Mike said...

@rehajm (8:30), those C-130s were probably bound for the Air Force Base at Thule. When I was a draftee working in the Pentagon during the Vietnam War my NCOIC was an Air Force E-7 who had once been assigned there. He told me that there’s a naked woman behind every tree n Thule. It took me a moment (I was young), then I asked him how many trees there were in Thule. “None “

Per Wikipedia these days the base is still operational, but it belongs to the Space Force now and has a new name I have no idea how to pronounce.

n.n said...

DEIsm. Color judgments, class bigotry.

Joe Bar said...

Krumhorn, Nice Ernest K. Gann reference. I remember reading that.

Yancey Ward said...

In the end, all that will matter is that the U.S. can offer each Greenlander much more money than the Danish tit will provide in the long run. I wrote it before- the best path forward for the people of Greenland is to go independent from Denmark and then sell the island to the U.S.; that way the Greenlanders get all of the money rather than the pittance Denmark's government would give them in a sale.

NKP said...

Hard to believe anyone opted for a career in aviation after reading Gann's "Fate is the Hunter".

boatbuilder said...

Better for Trump than "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" is Pete Townshend/Ronnie Lane's "Just Want To Be Misunderstood"
Just want to be misunderstood
want to be feared in my neighborhood
Just want to be a moody man
Say things that nobody can understand
I want to be obscure and oblique
Inscrutable and vague
So hard to pin down
I want to leave open mouths when I speak
Want people to cry when I put them down

Amexpat said...

Trump did not help himself with the “we’ll get Greenland one way or another” line. Whereas he would probably have an easy time getting what he wants by clearly supporting Greenland independence and emphasizing future US—Greenland cooperation. (Same could be said of Canada, where he picked an unnecessary fight on the eve of elections where the conservative party was set up for a landslide win.

I think some of Trump's over the top rhetoric is counter productive. That's certainly the case with Canada. Canada has some deep internal divisions, especially with Quebec, and could very well fall apart if left to it's own devices. But Trump's rhetoric touches a sore nerve with a lot of Canadians and increases national unity. There are historical precedents for US aggressive actions causing a greater sense of Canadian unity, such as the Fenian raids.

The dynamics with Greenland are different. They are not a Danish colony and have no great sense of being Danish. They can become independent with a referendum, but lack the resources to do so. If the US offers a better deal than what they have from the Danes, they would very likely make some sort of agreement with the US

Political Junkie said...

Yancey is correct. The only question is will Greenland be a territory, province, or state. I vote for state, even though lots of "horse tading" will need to happen.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

(Same could be said of Canada, where he picked an unnecessary fight on the eve of elections where the conservative party was set up for a landslide win.)

The "conservatives" were on the track for a "landslide win" last time, too. Until the voters had to actually decide who to vote for

Pierre appears to be a classic Mitt Romney / GHWB type: unwilling and unable to actually make the sale of conservative principles, more or less himself embarrassed by them.

Don't think you can blame this one on Trump

bagoh20 said...

I too feel disrespected by Denmark. They never call.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

I asked Grok what the Greenland election results were:

Election Results
Demokraatit (Democrats): Secured 29.9% of the vote, translating to approximately 9-10 seats (exact seat numbers vary slightly by source due to proportional representation calculations). This centre-right, pro-business party, led by Jens-Frederik Nielsen, favors a gradual approach to independence from Denmark. Their vote share surged from 9.1% in 2021, marking a significant upset.

Naleraq: Won 24.5% of the vote, likely gaining around 7-8 seats. This populist, pro-independence party advocates for a rapid break from Denmark and has expressed openness to closer ties with the United States. It doubled its previous support from 12% in 2021.

Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA): Took 21.4% of the vote, resulting in about 6-7 seats. Led by outgoing Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede, this left-wing party, which had dominated recent elections (34.6% in 2021), saw a sharp decline and lost nearly half its seats (from 12 to 7).

Siumut: Gained 14.7% of the vote, securing around 4-5 seats. This social-democratic party, a former coalition partner with IA, also supports independence but focuses on economic development first. It dropped from 29.3% in 2021.

Those numbers are slightly off, since you add all the high ends together and you only get 30 seats, and there's 31 total.

But going to hard for their to be anything other than a Demokraatit - Naleraq gov't, which is bad for Denmark and good for Trump

Drago said...

Greg (To Tim): "Pierre appears to be a classic Mitt Romney / GHWB type: unwilling and unable to actually make the sale of conservative principles, more or less himself embarrassed by them.

Don't think you can blame this one on Trump"

Oh yes they can. And they will. Its incorrect of course, but blaming Trump for quite literally everything is always in vogue in certain quarters.

rhhardin said...

Greenlanders are in fact second class citizens.

n.n said...

Elective abortion and dysfunction by Choice and social progress. Diversitism? Peer pressure? Probably.

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