NUUK, Greenland – The inauguration on Thursday of a new US consulate in the capital of Greenland led to significant protests, turning what Washington hoped would be the highlight of a week-long charm offensive into a public relations setback.
About 1,000 people gathered in front of the new 3,000-square-meter complex in Nuuk, waving Greenlandic flags and chanting “Kalaallit Nunaat, kalaallit pigaat!” (“Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders”) and “USA, go home”. The protesters quickly dubbed the building “Trump Tower” and at one point turned their backs on the American officials before dispersing.
“Listen to us. We are not for sale, and we are not a military object,” organizer and activist Aqqalukkuluk Fontain told the crowd. “We will not accept threats from the United States regarding our self-determination.”
These protests highlighted the pushback against Washington’s increasingly assertive Arctic diplomacy under President Donald Trump, whose administration has once again focused on Greenland as a strategic and geopolitical issue.
Inside the consulate, American diplomats welcomed a small group of local invitees with drinks and a concert by a group mainly composed of Hawaiian musicians. Several prominent Greenlandic figures, including Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, declined the invitation.
One consulate, two Americas
The inauguration was supposed to be the culmination of a week-long visit by Trump’s envoy, Jeff Landry, who sought to ease local skepticism with an unusual outreach campaign that included distributing cookies to children and MAGA hats to residents. Landry left Greenland the day before the inauguration.
In an editorial published before the inauguration, the US ambassador to Denmark, Kenneth Howery, described the consulate as a “permanent diplomatic facility specially designed” that showed Washington’s long-term commitment to Greenland.
“Such facilities are an investment in our presence, in our seriousness, and in our intention to stay,” he wrote.
Howery also emphasized Greenland’s foreign policy, security, and defense strategy, which calls for closer cooperation with the United States. Greenland’s foreign policy, however, remains officially linked to the Kingdom of Denmark.
This diplomatic message sharply contrasted with that of Rufus Gifford, former US ambassador to Copenhagen under Barack Obama and deputy campaign director for Joe Biden, who was also in Nuuk this week to attend the Future of Greenland conference.
Gifford, who presented himself as representing “the true majority of America,” said that many Americans were alarmed by Trump’s rhetoric towards Greenland and, more broadly, US allies.
“Trump’s foreign policy has eroded trust with our closest allies around the world with a constant deluge of intimidation tactics,” Gifford told Euractiv.
When asked why Trump remained fixated on Greenland, Gifford responded: “You’re asking me to read Trump’s thoughts. That’s impossible. I can’t think of any other answer than a twisted desire to reinforce American dominance in the Western Hemisphere.”
Pressure on the local population
The United States’ renewed interest has begun to disrupt daily life in Nuuk, a city of about 20,000 residents where political tensions increasingly encroach on private life.
“The American debate, very polarized, has spilled over into our society,” said Ujammiugaq Engell, director of the local Nuuk museum. “One must think carefully before discussing current topics, otherwise a kaffemik [traditional Greenlandic gathering] can turn into a family dispute,” she added.
She described several unpleasant encounters with American visitors, including a senior tourist who told her to “prepare for American takeover, because Trump always gets what he wants.”
In recent months, Nuuk has also attracted fringe activists and political opportunists. An octogenarian American still present in Nuuk, Clifford Stanley, garnered attention for trying to collect signatures in favor of closer integration with the United States, apparently offering residents around $200,000 (€173,000) in exchange for their signature.
EU keeps its distance
While Americans tested their popularity in the Arctic region, European representatives kept their distance. Commissioner Jozef Škela, who was in Nuuk until late Thursday afternoon, left without attending the opening ceremony. EU officials based in Nuuk remained at the recently inaugurated European Commission office.
The Danish representation was also very limited, with no senior government officials present, officially due to coalition negotiations in Copenhagen.
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