As geopolitical tensions escalate over the Arctic, US Vice President JD Vance is set to host senior Danish and Greenlandic officials in Washington on Wednesday, amid growing anger in Greenland over President Donald Trump’s renewed push to take control of the vast island. Residents of the capital, Nuuk, say the territory is not on the market – and accuse Washington of intimidation.

The dispute has drawn intense global scrutiny, with journalists crowding Nuuk’s narrow, snow-covered main street to ask locals about a crisis Denmark’s prime minister has warned could even jeopardise the future of NATO.

Diplomatic meetings as US pressure mounts

Vance will hold talks with Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and Greenland’s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, in a bid to calm tensions after Trump declared he wants the island “at any cost.” The White House has pointedly refused to rule out the possibility of taking Greenland by force.

Greenland, though largely self-governing, is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and a territory of a key NATO ally – making Trump’s stance highly provocative.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen made the government’s position unmistakably clear on Tuesday, stating in Copenhagen: "if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO. We chose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU.”

Frustration grows in Nuuk

Residents interviewed said Trump’s demands have angered and unsettled many Greenlanders.

Tuuta Mikaelsen, a 22-year-old student, said she hoped US officials would understand the clear message to “back off.”

For many locals, the benefits of remaining within the Danish realm are tangible – including free healthcare, education and financial support during studies.

“I don't want the US to take that away from us,” Mikaelsen said.

Strategic interests and doubts about security claims

Greenland’s strategic value has soared in recent years. Melting ice is opening shorter shipping lanes to Asia and making it easier to extract vast deposits of critical minerals needed for high-tech manufacturing. Trump argues that taking over Greenland would bolster U.S. security, citing the supposed threat of Russian and Chinese vessels in Arctic waters.

But locals interviewed in Nuuk challenged those claims.

Lars Vintner, a heating engineer, dismissed the security narrative, saying the only Chinese presence he encounters is “when I go to the fast food market.” He said he regularly sails and hunts and has “never seen Russian or Chinese ships.”

His friend, Hans Nørgaard, was equally sceptical, saying: “What has come out of the mouth of Donald Trump about all these ships is just fantasy.”

While Denmark has accepted that the US can expand its existing military facilities on the island, Vintner argued that “security is just a cover,” suggesting Trump’s real motivation is Greenland’s untapped natural resources.

Local pushback and fears for NATO

Nørgaard said he has filed a police report in Nuuk over what he describes as Trump’s “aggressive” conduct, saying American officials are pressuring both Greenland’s people and NATO itself. He compared the situation to other global territorial ambitions, saying:

“Donald Trump would like to have Greenland, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin would like Ukraine, and (Chinese President) Xi Jinping would like to have Taiwan.”

Greenland’s minister for business and mineral resources, Naaja Nathanielsen, criticised Washington ahead of the meetings, calling it “unfathomable” that the United States is openly discussing taking control of a NATO ally. She urged the Trump administration to pay attention to the voices of Arctic residents who overwhelmingly oppose any transfer of sovereignty. (AP)