„Greenland is not for sale“ Trump’s Plans and the Resistance on the Ground

0:00 Greenland is actually a very quiet place in this world. Far up in the north, in the Arctic, a huge island six times the size of Germany with a population of just 57,000 people. Lots of ice, lots of wind, and very little world politics. Or so it seemed. Suddenly, however, Greenland has moved to the center of global attention.

0:21 US President Donald Trump talks about Greenland as if it were a piece of real estate. At times he wants to buy the island, Then he calls it strategically indispensable. At other moments, he does not even rule out military action, only to row back again shortly afterwards. Most recently, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he said he would not attack Greenland. That, at least, was some good news.

0:45 And yet, doubts remain. A framework agreement is now supposed to somehow regulate that the Americans gain even more access to Greenland than they already have. What exactly is in this agreement, however, Nobody really knows. Over the past few days, I was in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. About a third of the island's entire population lives there, and I felt it was important to simply talk to people about what they actually think of these plans being made in Washington and how they feel about all these discussions that have suddenly thrust them, as I said, into the center of world politics.

1:21 Trump was clearly the dominant topic in recent days. Nunc, one has to say, is very, very small and everything is within walking distance. For example, in the Ivana shopping centre I met Ivana and Avienna. They are 14 and 13 years old, both students and both have very clear opinions about what is being discussed.

1:40 I feel like America should not buy green then. I feel like, Gründen should be free. These are certainly not slogans they have simply picked up somewhere. It is a feeling I sensed in almost everyone I spoke to in Nuuk. Young or old, no one wants to become American, and no one wants to be claimed or taken over by Trump.

2:11 In Crisis Mode, the podcast from Conflict Zones with Jan Jessen. Vielen Dank. Welcome to In Crisis Mode, I'm Jan Jessen, Political Editor and Crisis Reporter for the Funke Media Group. Greenland, as mentioned, six times the size of Germany, is largely covered in ice. In the interior of the country, temperatures can drop to as low as minus 70 degrees Celsius.

2:37 Greenland is mainly inhabited along its coastal regions. And Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, is located in the southwest of the country. Das ist ein Autonomous Territory in den Kingdom of Denmark. Just as a sidenote, Copenhagen ist über 3,500 Kilometre von Nuuk, significantly farther als New York. Greenland war ein Danish Kolonie für mehr als 200 Jahre. Today, es ist ein Autonomous Territory, mit ihren eigenen Parlament und ihren eigenen Regierung.

3:06 Many areas sind therefore administered by Greenlander selbst. However, foreign and security policy sind immer noch bei Copenhagen. Greenland nicht hat ihre eigene Armee. Das heißt, Danish soldiers sind in Greenland. Es gibt auch eine amerikanische Militärkarte in den nord des Islanders. Aber overall, es sind die Danes die Verantwortung für die Sicherheit.

3:28 While we were there, two larger warships of the Danish Navy were also stationed in Greenland, patrolling the Bay of Nuuk. And in recent years, there have repeatedly been efforts by many Greenlanders to achieve full and complete independence. That has to be said, over the past days and weeks, this has changed noticeably.

3:47 Many have realized that with just 57,000 people, they are simply far too small to be fully independent, especially when a major power like the United States suddenly starts making claims. As a result, the independence debates that at times were very intense in the past have now largely come to a standstill.

4:05 The people I met say that perhaps it is, after all, better to be protected by Denmark against these American ambitions. But above all, and this is the most important point, they want to decide their own fate. They do not want decisions about their future to be made over their heads. And they certainly do not want that to come from Trump or Trump.

4:23 Viele der Leute, die ich zu sprechen, sehen diese als neocolonialen. Die Idee von dem, ich will das, also ich will das. Greenland ist mein Territory. Es liegt in unserer Westen-Hemisphäre, das wir, als die USA, claim für uns selbst. Warum Trump möchte Greenland ist kein secret, denn es ist ein strategisch wichtiges Island in der Far North, in der Arctic.

4:45 Es geht um neue Schiffenroute. Keyword. Klimawandel. As arctic ice melts due to climate change, new trade routes are opening up. This makes it significantly faster, for example, to travel from Europe into the Pacific. It is about military considerations and, of course, about natural resources. Greenland is rich in rare earths. Greenland has gold, and it has other mineral resources that could potentially be exploited.

5:11 But what matters most to the United States, and I briefly mentioned this earlier, is the strategic dimension. The Arctic is becoming increasingly important, not only in terms of trade routes, but also from a strategic perspective. Russia is rearming, China is showing growing interest in the region, and Donald Trump has this grand vision of a so-called Golden Dome, essentially Trump's exaggerated version of what Israel has with the Iron Dome that protects the country.

5:38 Trump wants a Golden Dome of his own, because that's how Trump is. It has to be golden, or at least play that role, a shield to protect the United States, zu protester Nord-Amerika gegen mögliche attacks von Russland oder China. Und für das, Trump sagt, Greenland würde es notwendig, zu stationen Missile Defense System, Radar Installations und andere Militär infrastruktur.

6:01 Und für genau diese Grund, Greenland ist plötzlich ein wichtiges Problem. Etwas die Amerikaner desperately wollen. So viel so, in fact, dass Trump ist, die Zukunft der Zukunft mit NATO und Europa mit Europa zu risk. What's striking is that Trump is not conducting these talks with the Greenlandic government or with Denmark.

6:22 Instead, he speaks with NATO, he speaks with others, and leaves the people of Greenland out of it entirely. And that angers a great many people. Greenlandic MP Arja Chemnitz has said that NATO has no mandate to negotiate over Greenland's natural resources. And mistrust also remains in Denmark. Foreign Minister Lars Lukerasmussen has spoken of cautious optimism after Trump's retreat in Davos.

6:46 But Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has made one thing very clear. Sovereignty is not up for negotiation. And as I said, the big question remains whether what Trump said in Davos will hold up in the long run. He has clearly noticed that the Europeans are standing very firmly together and were not impressed by his threats of punitive tariffs, which, after all, is something he always resorts to when something doesn't suit him.

7:10 When countries irritate him or don't comply, he threatens them with tariffs and sanctions. He did the same in the case of Greenland, only to later back down when he realized that he could not influence the Europeans, that in this case they stood united, did not give in and said, this is not how it works, Mr. President.

7:27 So for now, Trump has pulled back. But the key question is how long that will last. As we know, Trump is someone who thinks one thing today and something completely different tomorrow. And for that reason, the Greenland issue is certainly far from resolved, even after Davos. I could sense that clearly in Nuuk.

7:46 People were visibly tense during those days. It wasn't that they were panicking or stockpiling food, although Prime Minister Nielsen briefly hinted that they should. He suggested that all Greenlanders should have food supplies for at least five days, so that in the event of an American attack, which Trump had also floated as a possibility, including military intervention, they would have enough to eat and drink.

8:09 Als ich sagte, wenn ich da war, die Leute noch nicht getan haben, aber man konnte sich das Gefühl, wie viel das Thema war, was auf sie zu tun. Among andere, ich habe mich über Mickie Sooke. Er ist 56, ein Fischerer, und war seine Fische an der Zeit. Er war mit rubberen Bösen und rubberen Globes, die starken Farben schmeckt.

8:25 Er fischte für Halibut. Er hat mich gesagt, dass seine Familie hier für Jahre alt ist. Er ist Indigenes, ein Inuit. Er hat sechs Kinder. Und seine größte wünschte, er sagte, dass seine Kinder in eine Free-Greenland grow. Und es muss sein, dass er, als ich vorhin schon erwähnt habe, er ist jetzt ein paar, die noch firmly insist auf vollen Independence für Greenland.

8:46 Wir wollen nicht Amerikanern, wir wollen nicht Danisch sein, wir wollen Greenland sein. Und wir wollen, wir können mit den USA machen, oder alle anderen Ländern. Er sagte, dass Greenland konnte mit den USA, mit Europa, mit jemanden, aber sie nicht mehr wollte es sein, eine Kolonie. Das Erinnerung der Kolonialen Zeit, zwischen 1721 und 1953, ist noch tief in den Greenlanden.

9:17 Ich habe auch den National Museum, wo diese Geschichte ist. Das war's. The indigenous Inuit population was not treated particularly well. On the contrary, Inuit women were subjected to enforced contraception. These are all things that people remember very painfully. And that is why, as I mentioned, there were strong independence movements for a long time.

9:40 What people definitely do not want is to become a colony again, the way Trump seems to imagine it. Greenland simply has a huge military base, where natural resources are exploited, und die Menschen selbst spielen keine realen Rolle. Even heute, Greenlanders nicht mehr von ihren naturalen Ressourcen. Und jetzt, die wichtigste Sache Greenland produziert ist Fisch.

10:02 Die Nordatlanticen Worte sind in verschiedene Species, halibut, krabbeläubige und andere Seafood. Ich habe eine Frau, die Ellen, 57, auf die Main Street mit ihr Shopping. Sie hat gesagt, dass die Danischen, für die Fisch sehr in Greenland, und dann sie es auf 10x die Preis überall. Sie war sicherlich nicht glücklich über das. Und sie hat auch sehr klar was sie denken, was sie von Trump denken.

10:26 Ich denke, Trump ist nicht gut, weil er viel Geld hat und er denkt, er kann uns kaufen. Aber wir sind nicht für'sale. Du könnt wirklich sehen es überall. Wir sind nicht für'sale. Some shops sogar auf posters. Greenland ist nicht für'sale. Da war eine große Demonstration die Woche ich arrived. Ich kam da auf Januar 18, und die Demonstration hat auf Januari 17.

10:52 Thousands von Leuten kamen zusammen, Peacefully, protesting for a free Greenland, insisting that Greenland must not become an American colony. Ellen also told me that Trump makes her tired because he seems to think everything can be bought with money. She also said something that many others mentioned. It's good that there are soldiers present now.

11:11 And of course she was not talking about the American troops, who are already stationed at an airbase in the north, but about the Germans who had arrived. That weekend, or just before it, a German Bundeswehr reconnaissance team came, along with soldiers from the Netherlands, France and Iceland. It was a 15-person reconnaissance unit, and it was, in a way, a show of force.

11:35 The idea was to demonstrate, we will definitely not allow this island to be taken over. Now, the idea that German, Danish or Icelandic soldiers would shoot at American soldiers is, of course, completely absurd, but if the Americans were actually to intervene militarily to simply take this huge piece of land by force, it would certainly be the end of NATO.

11:57 And so, the thought of a military clash there is not entirely abstract. At least it wasn't until Trump spoke in Davos and ruled out the use of military force. This German reconnaissance team was there for a few days. As was reported publicly, the mission was to work together with NATO to ensure security in the region and also to strengthen what is effectively an Arctic command based in Nuuk, safeguarding NATO's security interests in the Arctic in the long term.

12:25 At the airport in Nuuk, I spoke with Lieutenant Colonel Peter Milewczyk, the press officer for this command, which was only there for four days before leaving. And he drew a very positive conclusion from the deployment. There was a lively exchange, and with the information and experiences we've gathered, we're now flying back home.

12:46 Afterwards, we'll discuss possible options and see how to proceed from there. Im Nachhinein wird besprechen, wie es dann weitergehen könnte. Of course, it's a bit unrealistic to think that the German army could immediately deploy large troop contingents to the Arctic. Arctic warfare is very different from what the German army usually does.

13:03 Of course, there are special units trained for Arctic conditions, and mountain units might also be able to handle it. But moving a significant force, there would certainly take several months to set up. And it starts with the equipment. Vehicles that run on oil, for example, simply don't work at minus 20 degrees. They freeze.

13:21 Dann muss all die gear gehalten werden, und in diesem Fall, die Bundeswehr ist definitiv nicht bereit. Die Signal war clear. Europe stands with Greenland and Denmark, and many people here notice that very clearly. Julie, a young woman of 32, was walking through the pedestrian zone with some friends, her daughter, and other children.

13:45 Sie sagte mir, es war ein bisschen strange, zu be in Nuk und sehen Journalisten, alle 50 m, alle über die Stadt, alle Fragen, Journalisten von all over der Welt. Sie konnte sagen, die Locke waren ein bisschen overwhelmed und einige vielleicht ein bisschen annoyed. Julie sagte mir, es war ein bisschen odd für sie, auch. Ich weiß, es ist weird, dass es passiert, und dass wir so viel attention getrennt, weil wir nicht wirklich üblich sind, dass wir so viel attention getrennt.

14:14 Aber ich denke, es ist wichtig, dass wir uns gemeinsam sind. Sie hat auch gesagt, dass es für Greenlander wichtig, dass NATO es zusammenstehen. Dass die NATO-NATO-Unternehmen, außerhalb des USA, es klar ist, dass Greenland nicht nur ein Bargännis ist. I met a teenager, Lars, 16 years old, who, by the way, was walking around with his jacket wide open in minus 14 degrees.

14:36 Meanwhile, we really had to bundle up. We even had to buy spikes for our shoes, which I'd never worn before. You know, those galoshes you pull over your shoes for traction on ice. On the first day, I fell hard twice because everything was frozen. So we went to an outdoor shop and got these overshoes. Of course, they were all bundled up the whole time. Long underwear, long undershirt, two sweaters, really thick layers.

15:00 But this teenager, he was running around with his jacket wide open, clearly unaffected by the cold. And he summed it up with a bit of dark humour. If Trump takes us with force, he might give us fast foods and maybe better gyms and all that. But I'd rather not be American because I like the way Greenland is.

15:22 I like the way I can have my own free will and do whatever I want. Lars also said he hopes that other countries will stop Trump and that someone will take responsibility. And in fact, that did happen a day or two after our conversation. I think it was a difficult experience for Trump's ego, already very inflated, to suddenly see everyone who had previously backed down now standing up, from the Canadian Prime Minister to France's President Macron and even German Chancellor Merz.

15:49 They all made it very clear to him, So, mein Freund, so weit und nicht weiter. Ich denke, es war eine Erfahrung für ihn, eine, die er wahrscheinlich auf ein paar Zeit wird. Aber aus meiner Sicht, es war einfach gut und lange überdüren, dass Europa endlich auf die Glocke auf die Glocke. Europa nicht immer muss, es kann zurückkehren.

16:09 Und wir sollten nicht vergessen, Europa selbst ist ein großer Macht, mit einem einzigen Markt von 450 Millionen Menschen. Ein grosses Domestik-Produkt von 18 Trillion Euro. Das ist viel zu arbeiten. Mit und so es war wichtig, zu zeigen, dass Herr Präsident, wir nicht Angst haben, und wir können zurückgehen.

16:28 Karina, 32 Jahre alt, wie Hüley, hat nur in Nuk für zwei Jahre gearbeitet. Sie kommt aus Denmark und arbeitet in Konstruktion. Natürlich, die Zusammenarbeit ist sehr wichtig für die Lokale. Ja, natürlich, für die Grilanders, die togetherness ist sehr wichtig, und die calm. so to stick together is really, really important.

16:48 Ja, so that's a great thing. Ja. Okay. I think it's good that they have a diplomatic. Das ist auch such an interesting aspect. I've already mentioned the demonstration. Thousands of people on the streets. For a small city like Nuuk, with just 20,000 inhabitants, that was a huge event. And Trump, in a way, simply brought the Greenlanders together.

17:24 That was certainly not his intention. Aber es ist passiert. Als ich schon erwähnt, Greenlander haben auch noch mehr zu ihrem alten colonialen Macht, Denmark. Und jetzt, für die Zeit, die Independence-Movement hat sich aufhören. Menschen wissen, dass Denmark viel für Greenland macht. Die Danish-Gövernung finanzieht über half der Greenland-State-Budget.

17:45 Greenlander hat eine sehr gute soziale System und Gesundheit, wie in Denmark. Free Gesundheit und ähnliches. Und das ist etwas, dass sie uns immer wieder gesagt haben. This alone is one of the reasons they don't want to become Americans, because they know full well that their situation would definitely worsen if that were to happen.

18:03 Everywhere we went, in pubs, shopping centres, on the streets, you could hear the same sentiment in Nuuk during those days. There are different opinions about independence, sure, but everyone agrees on this point. We do not want to become Americans, and we want to decide our own future. Greenlanders, it's often said, are used to the forces of nature.

18:24 They know that when storms come, they eventually pass. They live with these storms, with the cold, with the ice. But political storms are of course new to them. And these storms have triggered something rarely seen. Greenland, in the focus of global attention. A small country clearly stating what it does not want.

18:43 I found that fascinating. The resilience and defiance of the Greenlanders. They are not going to be moved around like pawns on a chessboard. They want to take their destiny into their own hands. Was impressed me was also the calm. As I said, there was some tension, but no hysteria, no alarmism. At the same time, there is little trust in political promises.

19:04 Even after Trump's appearance in Davos, I spoke with people, and this distrust was very clear. They said, well, who knows what he'll say today? Tomorrow he'll probably say something completely different. Trust in the Americans is very, very low, and so is the shelf life of anything Trump says. So even after his speech in Davos, people were somewhat relieved that, Für jetzt, da würde ich keine American-Military-Intervention geben.

19:27 Viele Leute ich mit sagte, jokisch oder half-seriously, dass wenn die Amerikaner kam, sie würde sich um arms nehmen. Vielleicht ist das ein bisschen Pub-TALK, aber die Wahrheit ist, viele Menschen in Greenland sind. Almost alle haben Weapons- und sie sind excellent Marksmen. Several Leute sagten mir, dass wenn sie ever militärisch-occupiert wurden, sie würden sich selbst defendieren und sie würden sicherlich causen die Amerikaner Vielen Dank.

20:00 Which makes them vulnerable and that they rely on others the crucial question will be whether the major powers learn to treat this island as what it really is a home for people not a geopolitical playground this was In Crisis Mode this podcast was produced by Alexander Baumeister a journalist at Funkamedia Group Radio if you enjoyed this episode subscribe, share it and write to us at kristenmodus at funkamedian.de take a look Ciao ciao!