Trump threats cast ominous shadow over icy fjords of Greenland

“Donald Trump is a politician,” says Mr Fencker.

“He’s a hard businessman, and we know his rhetoric, and that rhetoric is something we have gotten used to since 2019, and it’s just a matter of talking to a peer, an ally, on how we can solve things here in the Arctic and also in Nato.”

Mr Fencker offers the central argument of pro-independence campaigners.

“What is necessary here is that Greenland as a sovereign state should negotiate directly with the United States and not Denmark doing that for us.”

Independence from Denmark could come at a significant financial cost.

Greenland receives subsidies from Copenhagen worth roughly a fifth of its GDP every year. Mr Fencker suggests, as have other leading figures here, that the island would negotiate with America and Denmark for support.

“We are not naïve in regard to that. We need support in defence, security, and also economic development. We want a sustainable and self-sufficient economy.”

The editor of the local newspaper Sermitsiaq, Maasana Egede, admits he was worried by the implied threat of force from Donald Trump, but wants to see how reality matches the rhetoric.

As for independence, Mr Egede has been frustrated by what he sees as a polarised debate in the media – local and international.

“We are very much telling this story that it has to be about independence or not independence. But there’s all of this story that is in between, that people want independence, but not at any cost. There’s a living standard that has to be maintained. There’s trade that has to be maintained. There are living ways that have to be maintained.”

There is an expectation that at some point – not in the immediate future – there will be a vote in favour and Denmark will accept the result.

The island’s Prime Minister, Mute Egede, addressed a joint press conference with the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, in the wake of the latest Donald Trump comments.

“We do not want to be Danish, we do not want to be American, we want to be Greenlandic,” he said. The Danish PM took care not to offend anybody, least of all the incoming US president.

“The debate on Greenlandic independence and the latest announcements from the US show us the large interest in Greenland,” she said. “Events which set in motion a lot of thoughts and feelings with many in Greenland and Denmark.”