Exclusive: Greenlandic MP Aaja Chemnitz confronts propaganda and U.S. pressure

By Elías Thorsson January 28, 2025
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Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, Greenlandic representative in the Danish parliament since 2015, speaks out against U.S. interference and reaffirms Greenland’s commitment to self-determination. (Marybeth Sandell)

The hallway-talk at the Arctic Frontiers Conference in Tromsø in Norway’s far north is dominated by Greenland. Trump’s renewed interest in acquiring Greenland—potentially by any means necessary—has reverberated across European capitals, sparking grave concern. The U.S. president’s recent belligerence and posturing have unexpectedly turned the small Arctic nation into a geopolitical hot spot, a shocking change for its 55,000 inhabitants.

“Most people are quite scared and concerned because for you it’s news. For us, it’s our everyday life,” says Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, who since 2015 has been one of two Greenlandic representatives in the Danish parliament, Folketinget, to Arctic Today. “Depending on which path Greenland will take, it will affect us deeply. We’re standing at a crossroad, and it’s important for us to make very wise decisions on behalf of our population.”

Greenland, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, has been debating whether to seek independence from Copenhagen since the 2009 Self-Government Act granted it greater autonomy.

With elections approaching on April 6, Naalakkersuisut, Greenland’s local government, faces the daunting task of safeguarding its democratic process amidst fears of foreign interference and misinformation campaigns.

“There’s no doubt that’s going to happen. We’ve observed this in many different places, also in Europe, and I already see it happening on Facebook,” says Chemnitz. “It’s important to make sure to combat it. We don’t want outside political influence, and the election is getting closer and closer.”

The propaganda push

The spectacle of Donald Trump Jr.’s visit to Nuuk on January 7, complete with a branded jet, quickly soured as reports surfaced that the ‘supporters’ he posed with were actually homeless and underprivileged individuals paid to don MAGA hats.

According to Chemnitz, the people who appeared with Donald Trump Jr. during a photo-op at a local bar were homeless people who were paid for their appearance. (Screenshot from X)

“I know it happened because I can see the people in the pictures. It’s people that I know from back home in Nuuk. So it was staged, there’s no doubt about that,” says Chemnitz.

The propaganda push has been an affront to local dignity and values and has caused unease among the local population. Chemnitz says some tactics have been even more brazen than hiring fake supporters.

“Especially handing out dollars to children on the streets of Nuuk was really something that was a red line for a lot of Greenlanders,” she says. “There’s a small group of people in Greenland that would like to be Americans. The rest of us, we don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danish, we want to be Greenlanders.”

The propaganda push has even pulled Greenlanders across the Atlantic, and earlier this month politician Kuno Fencker (Siumut) visited Washington, where he posed with Trump supporters. He was heavily criticized by his party leadership for unilaterally deciding on the visit and thereby going around the Greenlandic prime minister, Muté B. Egede.

“I’m really against anybody going to the U.S. by themselves without, you know, acting as an official and saying things on behalf of Naalakkersuisut [the Greenlandic government] without respecting what Naalakkersuisut is saying,” she says. “This is really what’s the most terrifying for me right now.”

Greenlandic politician Kuno Fencker (third from the left), met with prominent Trump supporters in the US recently. (Kuno Fencker, private photo)

A changing security landscape

Ironically, Trump’s claims of needing Greenland for U.S. security have introduced a new dimension of anxiety among Greenlanders, who hadn’t feared for their security until his bellicose rhetoric began.

“We had no concerns until he started, and I think especially when you are talking about military or economic embargoes, that’s really a red line for a lot of us in Greenland,” Chemnitz says. “So it was very disrespectful of him to discuss that.”

Arguably, Trump has been the most polarizing U.S. president in recent history, and although Chemnitz claims that he hasn’t moved the needle on the number of people who favor independence, he has emboldened both sides of the debate.
“I don’t think he has had any impact. I think the views that people have, they’ve just become stronger,” she says. “So if you’re pro-independence, you’ve become much more pro-independence. If you’re against independence, you’re much more against independence.”

According to Chemnitz, any serious moves towards independence are not on the near horizon—although they remain likely in the coming years. Trump’s increasingly bellicose rhetoric regarding the future of Greenland, which culminated in a reportedly harsh phone call with Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen, has thrown a spanner into the discussion. But Chemnitz affirms that whatever will be decided, it will be decided in Nuuk and not Washington.

“I would advise the U.S. President to listen to the government of Greenland, to the government of Denmark. Any decision about the future of Greenland is up to the people of Greenland. We don’t want to be American. We don’t want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders. We can collaborate, but Greenland is not for sale,” she concludes.

*The article originally stated that Kuno Fencker was in the Greenlandic opposition