World
Exploring Greenland's majestic history as President-elect Trump shines spotlight on island nation
Before President-elect Trump took a shine to it, Greenland was already on the radar of the cruise ship industry with many vessels choosing picturesque Greenlandic towns for their ports of call.
Cruise ship passengers take photos of fjords in Greenland (Danuta Hamlin)
One of the ports is Qaqortoq, the largest town in southern Greenland.
Qaqortoq means “white” in the Greenlandic language. (Danuta Hamlin)
Sailing from Iceland, the ship followed in the footsteps of Eric the Red, a Norseman who settled this area in 982. As Eric was exiled from Iceland, he made his home here and called it Greenland.
Some 80% of the island is covered by icecap and the remaining parts do not appear very green either.
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Majestic shores of Greenland (Danuta Hamlin)
According to some historians, Eric the Red came up with the name simply for promotional purposes.
He set out to attract more settlers from Iceland and advertised the island as a green land. Some experts say that Greenland could have been warmer at the time, but starting in the 15th century it experienced what is known as “The Little Ice Age.”
Children in Nanortalik, Greenland. (Danuta Hamlin)
Life in Greenland became too harsh for Europeans. But the native population of the Island found ways to persevere.
Julianehåb River runs through the center of Qaqortoq, Greenland. (Danuta Hamlin)
Nestled in the midst of a scenic fjord system, with a creek cascading across the town, and snow capping the mountain peaks even in the spring, Qaqortoq is a fascinating place to explore.
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Qaqortoq is the fourth-largest town in Greenland. (Danuta Hamlin)
Building highways in Greenland is expensive, therefore Qaqortoq is not connected by road to any other town or village. However, when the weather is warmer, the region provides ample opportunities for nature hikes, kayaking and fishing.
Qaqortoq Greenland (Danuta Hamlin)
The town was founded in 1775, as a trade colony, by Norwegian explorer Anders Olsen. With a population of just a little over 3,000, it offers a glimpse of Greenlandic life, Viking history and Nordic-inspired architecture.
The hills are peppered with colorful houses, creating a delightful contrast with the severe peaks of the surrounding fjords.
A street sign in Greenland. Greenlandic is an Eskimo–Aleut language with about 57,000 speakers. (Danuta Hamlin)
Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, but the official language is Greenlandic. It’s a polysynthetic language which means that, technically, there is no limit to the length of a Greenlandic word.
Deciphering local signs can be fun and challenging at the same time.
Stone & Man, an open-air art project in Qaqortoq, Greenland, featuring rock carvings and sculptures (Danuta Hamlin)
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Although trees are not easy to find, the area is full of all kinds of rocks and boulders. Some of them were turned into carvings of faces and whales, in a tribute called “Stone & Man.” This open-air gallery is the work of local Qaqortoq artist Aka Høegh.
Mindebrønden fountain is the older of the only two public fountains in Greenland. (Danuta Hamlin)
Qaqortoq boasts the oldest fountain in the country – Mindebrønden – Memorial Fountain. The fountain was completed in 1932 and is turned off during the winter months.
A fish market in Qaqortoq. Seal meat is a key ingredient in Greenland’s national dish, Suaasat. (Danuta Hamlin)
The town’s fish market sells whatever has been caught on a given day by local fishermen. It could be fish, or it could be whale meat, or perhaps a seal.
Qaqortoq is, after all, a fisherman’s town and seafood plays a vital part in Greenland’s diet.
Nanortalik is a village on Nanortalik Island, with some 1,072 inhabitants. (Danuta Hamlin)
The official religion of Greenland is Evangelical Lutheranism. In another port of call, a village called Nanortalik, members of the local congregation welcomed tourists with a musical performance.
Nanortalik choir singing outdoors in Greenland in 2018. (Danuta Hamlin)
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Nanortalik means the “Place of Polar Bears”. No bears, however, were spotted loitering around the village.
Nanortalik’s old colonial port area is an open-air museum. (Danuta Hamlin)
Greenland is the world’s largest island – a treat for any tourist adventuresome enough to venture there.
Cruise ship passengers take photos of fjords in Greenland (Danuta Hamlin)
The author recently took a cruise to Greenland.
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Greenland leaders push back on Trump’s calls for US control of the island: ‘We don’t want to be Americans’
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Greenland’s leadership is pushing back on President Donald Trump as he and his administration call for the U.S. to take control of the island. Several Trump administration officials have backed the president’s calls for a takeover of Greenland, with many citing national security reasons.
“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and four party leaders said in a statement Friday night, according to The Associated Press. Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory and a longtime U.S. ally, has repeatedly rejected Trump’s statements about U.S. acquiring the island.
Greenland’s party leaders reiterated that the island’s “future must be decided by the Greenlandic people.”
“As Greenlandic party leaders, we would like to emphasize once again our wish that the United States’ contempt for our country ends,” the statement said.
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Greenland has rejected the Trump administration’s push to take over the Danish territory. (Thomas Traasdahl/Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty Images; Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump was asked about the push to acquire Greenland on Friday during a roundtable with oil executives. The president, who has maintained that Greenland is vital to U.S. security, said it was important for the country to make the move so it could beat its adversaries to the punch.
“We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not,” Trump said Friday. “Because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor.”
Trump hosted nearly two dozen oil executives at the White House on Friday to discuss investments in Venezuela after the historic capture of President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3.
“We don’t want to have Russia there,” Trump said of Venezuela on Friday when asked if the nation appears to be an ally to the U.S. “We don’t want to have China there. And, by the way, we don’t want Russia or China going to Greenland, which, if we don’t take Greenland, you can have Russia or China as your next-door neighbor. That’s not going to happen.”
Trump said the U.S. is in control of Venezuela after the capture and extradition of Maduro.
Nielsen has previously rejected comparisons between Greenland and Venezuela, saying that his island was looking to improve its relations with the U.S., according to Reuters.
A “Make America Go Away” baseball cap, distributed for free by Danish artist Jens Martin Skibsted, is arranged in Sisimiut, Greenland, on March 30, 2025. (Juliette Pavy/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Monday that Trump’s threats to annex Greenland could mean the end of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
“I also want to make it clear that if the U.S. chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops. Including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War,” Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster TV2.
That same day, Nielsen said in a statement posted on Facebook that Greenland was “not an object of superpower rhetoric.”
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen stands next to Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during a visit to the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen on April 28, 2025. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)
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White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller doubled down on Trump’s remarks, telling CNN in an interview on Monday that Greenland “should be part of the United States.”
CNN anchor Jake Tapper pressed Miller about whether the Trump administration could rule out military action against the Arctic island.
“The United States is the power of NATO. For the United States to secure the Arctic region, to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, obviously Greenland should be part of the United States,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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