# Greenland’s opposition party pushes closer US ties, independence from Denmark as Trump plays big in election

## Leading opposition party urges expanding ties with US in exchange for defensive agreement

By  Fox News

Published March 11, 2025 4:00am EDT

[](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6367200496112)

Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede discusses President-elect Donald Trump’s remarks about the Arctic island and whether it’s for sale on ‘Special Report.’

Greenlanders will head to the polls to vote in their country’s parliamentary election on Tuesday, in what will likely prove to be a historic vote not because of any seismic shifts within the nation but because of the  it will send.

Independence from Denmark is not on the ballot itself, but who is elected to Greenland’s parliament will signal how the country could move forward in not only divorcing itself from Copenhagen, but in handling what some critics have perceived as threats issued by .

Parliamentary elections on the world’s largest island, a nation of less than 60,000 people, have previously picked up scant coverage due to their relatively low impact on world affairs.



A man votes early in Greenlandic parliamentary elections at the city hall in Nuuk, Monday, Greenland, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)



But all that changed in January when, ahead of his inauguration, Trump refused to rule out the possibility of "acquiring" Greenland through economic or military means and has since repeated his interest in the strategically important island.

While the majority of Greenlanders support independence from Denmark, they also align in their  for the island nation.

There is not a single lawmaker in Greenland that ran for election in this cycle on becoming a part of the U.S., but the leading opposition party known as Naleraq, which currently holds just five of the 31 seats in Greenland’s parliament, may have a solution to achieve independence while also appealing to Trump’s interests.

Qupanuk Olsen, a 39-year-old running under the Naleraq party who has garnered a massive social media presence with over a million followers spread over Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, shared a video in January where she addressed questions regarding her opinion on the matter.

Without directly noting her position on Trump’s ambitions, as she said she wants to keep her social media presence as "A-political as possible," she emphasized her support for expanding Greenland’s partnerships.



Qupanuk Olsen, candidate for the populist Naleraq party, smiles while attending a political meeting at the university in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 6, 2025. (Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)

"As I made clear during my Joint Address to Congress, the United States strongly supports the people of Greenland’s right to determine their own future," he said on his social media platform Truth Social. "We will continue to keep you safe, as we have since World War II."

Trump drew rebuke in some quarters following his address to Congress, where his tone on Greenland was softer than previous remarks, but he concluded by saying, "One way or the other, we're going to get it."

According to a , some 85% of Greenlanders oppose Trump’s push to make Greenland a part of the U.S., including Prime Minister Mute Egede, who has been not only a huge proponent of independence from Denmark, but who has also been staunchly opposed to Trump’s interest in Greenland.

Egede’s Inuit Ataqatigiit party, which currently holds 11 seats, is expected to pick up an  following the Tuesday election.



Anthon Frederiksen delivers campaign posters before the general election on March 10, 2025, in Ilulissat, Greenland. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)



Egede, who has repeatedly told the U.S. president that Greenland is "not for sale," on Monday said Trump’s unpredictability was sowing international chaos.

"The things that are happening in the world right now worry me quite a lot," Egede told Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). "There is a world order that is faltering on many fronts, and perhaps a president in the United States who is very unpredictable in a way that makes people feel insecure."

Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news.
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