Although I had wanted to visit Greenland since I was an adolescent, having read about this island nation’s complex relationships with the outside world over the centuries, including many thrilling accounts of early Norse as well as 19th and 20th century exploration of Kalaallit Nunaat, I had unfortunately not managed to do so until now.

Concerned as I have been for some time about Donald Trump’s recklessly disrespectful statements regarding Greenland and Denmark, and how they affect citizens of the U.S. as well as the European Union, I decided to come here in order to try and learn at least a little about the place and its people first-hand.

8 February

Fortunately, my first day in the capital, Nuuk, was a cloudless one, and not cold enough to prevent me from taking a long walk around the city.

I’ve always been drawn to ravens and crows, so I was happy to see so many ravens everywhere I wandered. I have never seen ravens so plentiful and so large anywhere else in Scandinavia, not even in neighbouring Iceland, a country I’ve been able to visit several times over the years.

My good fortune did not end with the sunny weather or the ravens. Thanks to having met the talented documentary film-maker Christoffer Guldbrandsen on the flight from Reykjavik to Nuuk, I received an unexpected invitation to have coffee with Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who has been Greenland’s Prime Minister since April of 2025.

Among Guldbrandsen’s films is “A Storm Foretold”, the stand-out 2023 documentary that examines Roger Stone, the MAGA movement, and the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol prompted by outgoing president Donald Trump). Guldbrandsen is currently making a new documentary related to recent events concerning Trump’s imperialist ambitions with regard to Greenland, and has established a trusting and productive relationship with the Prime Minister.

Guldbrandsen and I met at the Prime Minister’s office at 1 pm, only a few hours after my arrival in Nuuk. Nielsen is famously – and sensibly – cautious about who he speaks with and spends time with, so I did not expect a lengthy audience. I was also aware that this was a Sunday, and that Nielsen no doubt needed some well-deserved rest and the company of his family on his day off. At best I thought I might be able to ask him one or two questions about how he sees the U.S. president’s clumsy and arrogant approach to international relations with Greenland and Denmark. To my surprise, and Guldbrandsen’s, our meeting with the Prime Minister lasted just over 3 hours.

We spoke about many things, including the recent history of his country and its relations with Denmark and the U.S., but also about his upbringing and his love for his country’s landscapes. We shared boyhood stories about growing up with fathers who taught us about wildlife, how to hunt and fish, and to always respect our natural surroundings. He also asked me about the landscapes of New Zealand, and told me he was a fan of Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I told a couple of stories about the filming of the trilogy, and we discussed how the story mirrored some of the elements found in the norse sagas, which he is clearly and understandably familiar with. I also told him about the places I went hiking and fishing on Aotearoa.

Prime Minister Nielsen was born and raised in Greenland. His Danish father moved there as a child, and his Greenlandic Inuit mother is a native Greenlander. He is a fascinating young man, at only 34 having already proved himself to be a wise leader of his people. I was moved during our conversation by the affection he showed for his fellow citizens and his nation’s historical legacy. He spoke courteously about everyone, even about Donald Trump, but never showing himself to be less than fiercely independent and firm in his convictions with regard to the sovereignty of Kalaalit Nunaat. Greenland, Denmark, and the European Union are lucky to have such a common-sense person as a democratic partner.

After biding the Prime Minister and Christoffer a fond farewell, I took a last stroll along the city’s iceberg-filled fjord in the fading light before heading back to the hotel. As I walked along the waterfront, several locals greeted me, an obvious outsider, with kind greetings. My mind was filled with new ideas and images, the echoes of what I had learned from Nielsen. The temperature started to drop as the last of the sunlight faded in a fiery glow over the water. As I watched the last glow of the sunset fade, I thought about Canada, Greenland’s closest neighbour to the west, a country I also have deep affection for.

My first day in Nuuk still had more surprises in store. When I was seated in the hotel’s restaurant enjoying an early supper (my day had begun at 3 a.m. in Copenhagen, when I rose to make my way to the airport and the first leg of my journey), I was surprised to see 4 U.S. senators enter the room. Maine’s Angus King, New Hampshire’s Maggie Hassan, Michigan’s Gary Peters, and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski. These are people I have seen many times on television, including Senator Lisa Murkowski responding critically to Trump’s dangerous rhetoric about Greenland in Copenhagen last month, but I never expected to meet them.

The restaurant is not a large room, and I eventually ended up meeting and speaking with all four senators. They had recently returned from a helicopter flight to Greenland’s inland ice-fields with representatives of the national government, and expressed their admiration for the extraordinary landscapes they had seen. They also described their airborne view of the spectacular sunset as they returned to Nuuk. I asked them what they were doing here, and they said they were going to meet Prime Minister Nielsen in the morning. I told them I had met him a few hours earlier, and had been greatly impressed.

As I was leaving the restaurant, I ended up speaking with Lisa Murkowski again, but this time just the two of us. She reiterated how much she had loved the trip they had taken that afternoon. She even recited from memory a haiku poem she had composed as they flew over the ice fields. I wish I had written it down.
I have not been in agreement with some of Senator Murkowski’s political positions or some aspects of her voting record during the two Trump presidencies, but I have great respect for her recent public statements opposing his demented imperialistic pronouncements regarding Canada, Greenland and international relations in general. Face to face, I found her to be a warm and sensitive person who clearly loves her constituents and her country.

After dinner I headed to my room and watched the first half of Super Bowl LX on a Danish television channel, and then Bad Bunny’s remarkable half-time musical performance – which I, like a large percentage of the U.S. population, understood every word of. Even if had not understood the Spanish lyrics, I would have enjoyed the visual ode to Puerto Rico’s historical legacy and people, and appreciated Bad Bunny’s insistence on America including the countries he named from Alaska all the way down to Tierra del Fuego. Then I turned off the T.V., sorry for the Patriots and happy for the rampaging Seahawks, who seemed well on their way to to a convincing win, and fell asleep.

9 February

When i woke up early this morning, I had another pleasant surprise in the form of a text message from Christoffer Guldbrandsen. The four senators, after their early morning meeting with Prime Minister Nielsen, would be holding a press conference in the hotel I was staying in. He said I should feel free to attend, as it seemed likely to be a fairly casual encounter with the media.

Along with a group of Danish, Greenlandic, Chinese, and U.S. journalists (there may have been other countries represented, but these are the ones i recognised), I went up to the 5th floor and took a seat between the finance and foreign relations ministers of Greenland to hear what the U.S. senators had to say. Without going into detail about the statements given by each of the senators and how they answered questions, I can say that I was pleased by their good words about respecting and nurturing friendly relations with Greenland, Denmark, the European Union, and all NATO member states. Each of them clearly stated their rejection of Trump’s aggressive stance as regards Greenland, and pledged to do all they could to repair the damage he has done to the relationship between that country and the U.S.

Perhaps the best and most challenging question was made by the journalist representing DR, Denmark’s primary national television channel – akin to the BBC in in Great Britain. After Murkowski as well as some of the others had spoken about the power of Congress to check Trump via appropriations powers and the judicial system’s proven ability to overturn some of Trump’s more irrational moves in the lower courts, the DR journalist asked what would happen if Trump simply ignored Congress and the legal system’s attempted restraints on his behaviour, as he has so often done as president. Angus King admitted that this would continue to be a challenge, but that he had faith in the legal system in the long run, and especially in U.S. voters with regard to the mid-term elections later this year. I would tend to agree with that, especially as regards the mid-term elections, but I worry that Trump will continue trying to use his power to interfere with the smooth and fair running of those elections.

After the press conference, I ended up speaking with Senator Murkowski one last time in the hallway. She seemed passionately committed to doing all that was in her power to repair relations between the U.S. and Greenland, and between the U.S. and Denmark. As a dual citizen, I was happy to hear and feel this from her.

 

Other than these U.S. senators, I have not seen or read much from any other members of Congress about Greenland. Mr. Trump and his administration have been very quiet in recent weeks, but I do not expect that to last.

Late in the afternoon I took a long walk to the edge of town, on the way happening on the little red house that is the U.S. Consulate. Dead quiet there, too, not a single vehicle parked in front of it. Is anyone home?

I went down to the water as the light began to fade, and saw a man in a kayak. Had he been hunting, maybe? His smooth paddling and the stillness of his steady progress was beautiful.

At day’s end, in the hotel bar, I was informed by a local politician that the U.S. government had purchased a lot of approximately 3 thousand square metres in downtown Nuuk, on which they were intending to build a much larger consular office. It seems that plans for expansion of U.S. activities, perhaps strictly commercial, have been in the works for some time, pre-dating the currentTrump administration. A more noticeable U.S. diplomatic presence may be fine with most Greenlanders, as some of their representatives have for several years been saying, in response to Trump’s threats to either buy the country or take it by force, “We are open for business, but we are not for sale.” We’ll see.

10 February

This morning, on my last full day in the country, I woke up happy to again see clear blue skies at sunrise from y hotel room window. The main for that was because a kind soul had invited me to go on a 2-hour helicopter tour to the inland ice. Although I was a little nervous about getting in a helicopter (I have not flown in one since the sometimes hair-raising flights into the wilderness areas of the South Island of New Zealand during the making of “The Lord of the Rings”), I knew from photographs I’ve seen, and what Senator Murkowski had described, that we would be seeing some extraordinary landscapes. Unfortunately, the flight was called off because the helicopter was needed for an emergency flight. I put on some warmer clothing and decided to spend the rest of the day outdoors. It seems that people in the street were now aware that I was in town, owing to my showing up at the previous day’s press conference, and I ended up having many interesting conversations with them. They were grateful to have someone interested in them and supportive of their resistance to Trump’s expressed desire to take over their country.

I visited the National Museum, which has a very well-presented collection of artefacts, photographs and information about the country’s history and culture, and then took a long walk outside of town, along the fjord. I found a cove that was very quiet, and decided to wait for the sunset there.

I again saw a kayaker glide past as the sun slowly disappeared below the horizon.

The temperature dropped noticeably as i walked back to town. When I finally returned to the hotel I had a message from one of the new friends I’d made over the past couple of days, inviting me to join him and a couple of others to go look for the northern lights later that night. I gladly accepted, and we were not disappointed. This what it looked like at about 10 p.m.:

11 February

I’d like to have stayed longer, but I needed to leave for Reykjavik and connect to my flight to Seattle. As soon as I am able, I will return to Greenland and try to see other parts of the country. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

My Greenland luck continued, as it turned out I was on the same flight as Jens-Frederik, the Prime Minister. We had breakfast in the airport café, and talked about his upcoming visit to the European Security Summit in Munich, which the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, was scheduled to attend. Although Rubio’s tone might prove to be less abrasive than Vance’s was last year, when he repeatedly insulted Europeans and their values during his insufferably arrogant speech, Jens-Frederik said he did not have high expectations for any representative of the Trump administration.

We also talked about trying to see each other again, hopefully to have some adventures in the wilds of Greenland. I told him that would be a dream come true for me, and said he was welcome to come visit me and we could go for good walks in the woods that call home, perhaps see some elk and go fishing together some day. I asked if I could make a “selfie” photo of us, and he kindly said yes. This is not something I’m in the habit of doing, but I really like him and respect his leadership. Here’s hoping his Munich trip is a success for him and his country.

The weather was fine as we flew over the inland ice and then left the eastern coast of Kalaallit Nunaat for Iceland:

When we landed at Iceland’s Keflavik airport, Jens-Frederik had to run to catch his next flight. We had a nice hug and I wished him well at the Security Summit. I know he will stand upon for his country and his people, and will not be fazed or overly impressed by the important politicians he will interact with.

12 February

Although it was good to be back in the Inland Northwest, the unusual lack of snow and strangely warm temperatures instantly made me worry about what next summer will bring in terms of forest fires. Normally there is at least a few feet of snow on the ground here this time of year. I hope it gets a lot colder and snows a lot over the next month. In spite of my worries about the spring-like climate, it was nice to see some old friends as returned to the forest:

13 February

I spent a good day in the woods, walking way upriver. It seemed strange to be able to travel so far without skis or snowshoes in mid-February, owing to the lack of snow, but I enjoyed the long hike. After dinner I watched the news and some of the Winter Olympic coverage from northern Italy, and hoped I’d be able to get a good night’s sleep. Because my “jet-lag” had not worn off yet, however, I ended up staying awake long enough watch Marco Rubio’s morning speech in Munich. I was appalled.

The speech was fairly well received by most European politicians and journalists, but I found it to be an infantile, rancid rehash of antiquated imperialistic tropes and arrogant christian-centred gibberish. Right out of a U.S elementary school 1950s social studies textbook. Or borrowed from the talking points of any ultra right-wing, white-nationalist, anti-immigrant political party or movement in Germany, Europe, the U.S., or anywhere else in the proverbial, mythical « West »..

He spoke proudly of U.S. foreign policy under Trump that has supported and financed the demolition and genocide carried out in Gaza by Israel, the violations of international law committed by the U.S. with its unilateral military actions in Iran, Venezuela and elsewhere. He spoke of the need to stop apologising for European conquests and colonialism.

At one point he said “Our great midwestern heartland was built by German farmers and craftsmen who transformed empty plains into a global agricultural powerhouse”, as if there had been no human beings, no Native Americans living on those plains when Europeans found them and exploited them.

Ridiculously, many present applauded Rubio at several points during his speech, instead of being disgusted by his retrogressive statements, piled one on top of the other in a jumble of jingoistic platitudes. I do not know if Stephen Miller and/or J.D. Vance had a hand in writing the offensive text, but it seemed like a gentler version of their usual white supremacist playbook. Gentler to suit Rubio’s relative polite schoolboy presentation skills.

14 February

Happy Valentine’s Day to one and all.
It is raining hard here today. Although I do like the drumming sound the downpour makes on the metal roof of this house in the forest, I wish it were snowing instead. As I look out the window at the mist-shrouded mountainside, I remember the first two lines of Lisa Murkowski’s haiku:

“Massive raw ancient
Greenland is never for sale…”

After that there was one more line about a forever sort of vastness or something along those lines. On her tour of Greenland she had been impressed in much the same way as I had been by what I managed to see there. I cannot wait to return.

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Kennedy, who was appointed secretary of the federal health and human services (HHS) department despite his avowed anti-vaccine activism, made that remark on the 12 February episode of Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend.

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Donald Trump’s second presidency has been defined by lawless, fascist actions at home and imperial ambitions and performative militarism abroad. He has threatened scores of countries while depicting Canada and Greenland as part of the U.S. His obsession with Greenland has caused severe strains between Europe and the United States and even prompted several European nations to send troops to one of the world’s largest islands, which has a population of less than 60,000. For an insight on how the people of Greenland feel about Trump’s takeover attempts, Truthout spoke to Malu Rosing, a Greenlandic activist and Arctic advisor.

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