Greenlanders are using Donald Trump’s threats to take the world’s biggest island by force to push for independence from Denmark.

The Arctic territory’s main opposition party has described the current situation a “window of opportunity”, claiming that Mr Trump’s renewed push to acquire Greenland could help accelerate a breakaway.

Juno Berthelsen, an MP and foreign policy spokesman for the leading opposition party Naleraq, said: “We’ve been seeking independence for many years now, and there’s a window of opportunity here for us, where we could actually go into a dialogue about concrete steps we can take to better Greenlandic people’s lives.”

The remarks come after an extraordinary week where Mr Trump captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and then escalated threats to seize Greenland, leaving European leaders shocked.

Many Greenlanders are now fearful of what is to come, although Mr Berthelsen remains optimistic.

He dismissed Mr Trump’s threats of using military force as “unrealistic”, claiming that “Donald Trump and his administration are doing a lot of posturing”.

He said he would be open to entering a dialogue with Mr Trump.

The autonomous resource-rich island has been part of the Danish Kingdom for hundreds of years, alongside the Faroe Islands.

It has gradually gained more powers over several decades, after ceasing to be a colony in 1953. However, Greenland is still heavily reliant on Denmark financially.

During his first term, Mr Trump first proposed buying the island in 2019, comparing it to “a large real estate deal”. Last year, he also tried to woo the nation of around 57,000 people, promising “we will make you rich”.

‘We don’t want to be American’

However, Greenlanders have no interest in becoming an American outpost, according to Mr Berthelsen.

He said: “First of all, Greenland cannot be bought.”

Mr Berthelsen added: “The Greenlandic people and all of the parties that represent the people in Greenland have a unified message to the world and to the US.

“We’ve said it openly. We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danish. We want to be Greenlanders.”

It comes after growing tensions with Denmark in recent years over its colonial legacy in Greenland, fuelling support for independence.

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