President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, Jeff Landry, has begun his first visit to the Arctic island in a bid to build ties and make “friends”.
“I’m here simply to build relationships, to look, to listen and to learn,” Landry said after stepping off an official US plane in Greenland’s capital Nuuk on Monday.
But Landry’s visit to the territory, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark, has touched a nerve, with Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen reiterating his country is “not for sale” and some Greenlanders giving Landry the cold shoulder.
The trip comes amid efforts to resolve a diplomatic crisis sparked by the US president when he threatened to seize Greenland by force.
Also travelling with him is an American doctor, who told Danish network TV2 that he had volunteered “to assess the medical needs” in Greenland – a move that the country’s Health Minister Anna Wangenheim criticised as “deeply problematic”.
Trump announced in February that he was sending a US hospital ship to Greenland, an offer flatly rejected by Greenland’s leader.
Having been appointed to the envoy role in December 2025, Landry said the US president had told him to “go over there, and make a bunch of friends”.
Jorgen Boassen, a Greenlandic Trump-fan who attended the president’s inauguration, accompanied Landry as he toured the city.
The envoy also met a former mayor and various business leaders too.
Controversially, his visit takes place without an official invite and as delicate high-stakes talks between the US, Denmark and Greenland continue.
On Monday, Landry, who insists he is visiting on a goodwill mission, and the US Ambassador to Denmark Ken Howery met Nielsen.
“We clearly reiterated that the people of Greenland are not for sale and that Greenlanders have the right to self-determination,” the prime minister later told reporters.
Nielsen noted the “good tone” of the meeting, but emphasised there would be no parallel discussion while top-level talks continued.
Greenland’s foreign minister, Mute Egede, also said the US had not given up on its aims to acquire the territory.
“We have our red line. The Americans’ starting point has not changed either,” Egede said, according to Agence France-Presse.
Trump’s repeated calls to take control of the autonomous Danish territory, due to its importance for US national security, had sparked a diplomatic crisis.
After Trump ruled out taking the island by force, a “working group” was set up to resolve the dispute.
But while tensions have eased recently, an agreement between the countries has not yet been reached, and, as the BBC previously reported, the US is seeking a larger military presence.
Speaking to journalists outside the “Future Greenland” business event on Tuesday, Landry suggested that Greenland had been neglected by past US administrations.
“Before Donald Trump, the United States was ignoring Greenland,” he said.
Asked by the BBC if Mr Trump still wanted the Arctic territory to become part of the United States, he replied: “You’ll have to talk to the president yourself.”
“When was the last time that any high-level diplomats came to Greenland?” he remarked. “Who cares more about Greenlanders than the Trump administration and the president? Because seemingly before the president, no one cared.
“Greenland didn’t exist, until Donald Trump put it on the map.”
Since Trump’s surprise appointment of Landry, he has heaped praise on the president’s policies.
Landry has largely adopted a conciliatory tone during his visit, according to Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard, a senior researcher in American foreign policy at the Danish Institute of International Studies.
“I think it’s a change in tactics,” he said. “The approach now is to try and befriend people, rather than coerce them.”
Getty ImagesHowever, the US pressure has weighed heavily on Greenland’s 57,000 residents and winning them over appears to be an uphill battle.
“It’s only four months ago that we felt very threatened by the US, so the timing is not appropriate,” says Greenlandic businesswoman and former politician, Maliina Abelsen, who thinks Landry should have waited and who declined an invitation for a meeting.
“I don’t like how you try to [bypass] the diplomacy and walk in the front door.”
Aqqaluk Lynge, author and former president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, says there is “so much distrust now”.
“The sad thing is we have had a beautiful relationship with the people in the US, especially with the indigenous people,” he said.
On Thursday, both Landry and Howery will attend the opening of a new US consulate building, a modern high-rise block in the centre of Nuuk, nicknamed “Trump towers” by some locals.
Naaja H. Nathanielsen, Greenlandic MP and former business minister, said she will not attend, adding the situation remains challenging.
She continued: “Landry is tasked to help the president acquire Greenland. That is a reason why he’s here to ‘listen’ and visit, and that in itself is, I think, still very serious.”
