European, not so much.

Greenland’s colonial past could be Washington’s way in – Greenland’s legacy of Danish colonialism, forced relocations and cultural trauma may now become the opening Donald Trump needs to pull the island away from Europe’s orbit.

When US President Donald Trump first mused about a Greenland takeover, the initial reactions were a blend of disbelief, bemusement and nervous laughter. It felt like yet another outlandish flourish, and marginally more realistic than annexing Canada.

But beneath the jokes sat a truth few confronted: Greenland’s position within Europe is fragile. The island bears deep scars from Danish colonialism, depends heavily on Danish funds and exists in a constitutional limbo: tied to Denmark, yet outside the EU’s political system. Those unresolved tensions leave Greenland politically unanchored, and exposed.