Greenlandic politician warns diplomacy is failing under Trump pressure

Aaja Chemnitz — one of Greenland’s two members of the Danish parliament — is calling for Greenland and Denmark to move beyond diplomacy and take concrete steps to strengthen security and preparedness to counter increasingly aggressive statements from US President Donald Trump and his allies about Greenland. Politicians in both Nuuk and Copenhagen are increasingly concerned about the messaging coming out of Washington and about the U.S. President’s position on the future of the Arctic country.

In an interview with Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq published on Monday, Chemnitz, a member of the Greenlandic political party Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA), said Trump does not respond to diplomatic signals and that relying solely on political messaging is no longer sufficient.

“I think we are in a situation where we have a large toolbox, but we are only using one tool and that is diplomacy and the political signals we send verbally to the United States,” says Aaja Chemnitz.

She said Greenland and Denmark have spoken increasingly clearly in response to U.S. rhetoric, but that the message is not being heard in Washington. In recent days, a number of European leaders have voiced support for Denmark and Greenland and earlier today the continent’s biggest nations, along with Denmark, released a joint statement calling on “NATO allies including the U.S.” to uphold “the  principles of the U.N. Charter.” The statement comes a day after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that an attack on Greenland would mean the end of NATO and the post-WWII security order.

“We are in a situation where one has spoken increasingly clearly, but it is obvious that this is an American president who does not listen,” says Aaja Chemnitz.

Chemnitz reiterated that Greenland’s position on sovereignty has not changed and rejected any suggestion that the country could become part of the United States.

“The message from my side and from IA will always be the same: Greenland is not for sale and will not come up for sale either, so you can forget your plans about Greenland becoming part of the United States,” says Aaja Chemnitz.

She argued that closer and more concrete coordination between Nuuk and Copenhagen is necessary to create security for people in Greenland and to prepare for potential escalation.

“We need a joint plan for what we do if the worst imaginable should happen.”

Russian and Chinese presence greatly exaggerated 

Chemnitz accused Trump of exaggerating and manipulating claims about the security situation around Greenland, particularly regarding foreign naval activity.

“There is a persistent interest in Greenland where, for example, the presence of Russian and Chinese ships in Greenlandic waters is exaggerated,” she said. “I have sat on the Defence Committee for more than ten years, and there are ships from time to time, but exaggerating in order to advance one’s own interests is manipulating and lying about the situation in Greenland.”

She accused the U.S. of disregarding diplomatic norms and rules, which should cause a rethink of Greenland and its allies’ approach.

“That is beyond my limit,” she said. “There is no respect for the diplomatic and political rules of the game in the United States. That is quite clear.”

Chemnitz said concrete measures should now be considered, including stronger preparedness and potentially extending multinational military exercises such as Arctic Light, which previously involved Nordic and European forces.

Her remarks come as senior figures in the Trump administration publicly downplay the possibility of resistance to U.S. ambitions in Greenland. In an interview aired on CNN on Sunday, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller was pressed on whether the U.S. would annex Greenland by force, he dodged the question by claiming that no country would fight the United States militarily over Greenland.

He also questioned Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland and framed the country’s future as a matter of US strategic interest rather than international law. Going so far as to claim that “Greenland should be part of the United States.”

During the weekend, his wife and former Trump administration official, Katie Miller, posted on X (formerly Twitter) an image of Greenland overlayed with the U.S. flag with the words “soon”, which, given her intimate ties to the president’s inner circle, was widely interpreted in Greenland and Denmark as part of an increasingly hostile rhetorical escalation.