Greenlanders watch nervously for signs from White House talks

NUUK – In a blue wooden house perched above Nuuk’s sprawling fjord, Mrs Liv Aurora Jensen sat in her living room surrounded by the trappings of Greenlandic life – handmade cutting boards and ceramics, and Greenland’s red and white flags tucked in beside a potted plant.

With her husband Peter Jensen and their son Inuk, she waited in near silence in front of the television as a

meeting between US Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark

got under way in the White House, some 3,220km.

Like many in Greenland, which has a population of around 57,000, Mrs Jensen, 62 hoped to the high-stakes meeting could help quell President Donald Trump’s ambition of taking over the Danish overseas territory.

“I have been sleeping very, very badly, really,” Mrs Jensen said, describing the anxiety shared by many of her neighbours in recent weeks as Trump ups pressure on Denmark over the island.

“I was talking to my sister yesterday and I told her: ‘I’m trying not to get a panic attack.’ I really have to control myself not to start crying or panicking, and not to let all my thoughts spin out of control.”

She paused, looking out toward the fjord visible through her window. “It’s really frightening.”

‘I got so emotional’

As the meeting concluded and cameras showed the Danish foreign minister emerging from the White House, Mrs Jensen leaned forward. “What was his facial expression?” she asked aloud, referring to Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

“She smiled when she exited the car,” Inuk, 22, said to his mother, referring to Ms Vivian Motzfeldt, Greenland’s top diplomat.

When the broadcast showed the Danish minister giving a fist bump to the Danish ambassador, both Mr and Mrs Jensen stood arm in arm in front of the television. “It’s a good sign,” Mrs Jensen said.

Relief was visible on both their faces. “I think it’s a good sign for future communication with the United States,” Mr Jensen, 63, said.

“I hope the outcome will be that we continue, as we have done before, that Greenland is not taken over by the United States, but we have cooperation with the other countries such as the European Union, Denmark, and of course the United States.”

“We want to be a people and country as we always have been. I think it’s possible,” he said.

But despite the talks, Mr Trump reiterated his views later on Jan 14 that the US needs Greenland and that Denmark cannot be relied upon to protect the island, even as he said that “something will work out” with respect to the future governance of the Danish territory.

“I don’t think they will come here with military,” Mrs Jensen said, then added quietly: “It would take them five minutes.”

The past weeks have shifted how she views America. “I have lost some respect for the Americans. And I have lost all respect for President Trump because his rhetoric is like a 14-year-old boy who is bullying everybody,” she said.

Greenland’s government said on Jan 12 it will increase efforts to ensure the defence of the Arctic territory takes place under the auspices of NATO, and again rejected Mr Trump’s ambition to take over the island.

‘Some of my friends say we are cooked’

Inuk, sitting on the sofa in front of the TV, had been following the crisis closely with his friends.

“When Trump first started saying he wanted Greenland years ago, we were like, ‘This guy’s crazy.’ But as the time went on and things got more serious, we were down. Yesterday we were really scared of what might happen today,” he said. “Some of my friends say we are cooked.”

What his mother fears is change.

“We are afraid that he can take us like that,” she said, snapping her fingers. “Our culture will disappear, our language will disappear, and the whole way of living in Greenland will disappear, and we will become American,” Mrs Jensen continued. REUTERS