Greenland “will not be annexed”, the longtime leader of its largest labor union has declared, refuting Donald Trump’s claims that the Arctic territory’s current status poses a national security threat to the US.
In an interview with the Guardian, Jess Berthelsen, chair of SIK, Greenland’s national trade union confederation, said people in the territory do not recognize the US president’s allegations that Russian and Chinese ships are scattered throughout its waters. “We can’t see it, we can’t recognize it and we can’t understand it,” he said.
The Trump administration has renewed its threats to seize Greenland in recent days, and claimed that officials were even considering using military force as an option, following a raid in Venezuela that culminated in the arrest and ouster of the country’s president Nicolás Maduro, and his wife Cilia Flores.
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security,” Trump claimed during an exchange with reporters aboard Air Force One. “Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.”
Berthelsen, who has led SIK for over 30 years, disputed this allegation. The union represents thousands of workers, from government employees to electricians, mechanics and fishers.
“In Greenland, it’s hard to recognize the demands Trump is setting,” he said. “His claims about our waters being full of Russian and Chinese ships, we cannot see that at all. We can’t recognize this postulation.
“The Danish navy is traveling in Greenland waters, and our big trawlers are also everywhere. If that had been the case, they could have told us already, but there’s no such thing. So what is it that he’s talking about?”
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European leaders have sought to rally behind Greenland and Denmark in recent days. “It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, declared in a rare European rebuke to the White House.
Their statement came after Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, claimed during a CNN interview that “nobody” was “going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland”.
Berthelsen emphasized that Greenland was a semi-autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, with self-government. SIK is focused on reaching agreements with Greenland’s government and private employers to better their everyday lives, he said – and eventually work toward independence as a country.
An estimated 84% of Greenlanders support independence, according to a 2025 poll, which found that just 6% back a US takeover. The territory has a population of about 57,000 people.
“Greenland is an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and we have self-government, and we have agreements with the Danish government,” said Berthelsen. “That’s how things operate. If this is to change, we will take the initiative to change. It’s just hard to fathom the fact that that this is the climate among us at the moment.”
US corporations, like any other company from the world, can already apply to do business in Greenland, he added. SIK has agreements with the Danish state and companies, setting terms for wages and working conditions.
a map showing the US, Greenland, Denmark, Russia and China
Cooperation between Greenland and the US was undermined by the US government making constant threats to Greenland’s autonomy, including the threat of military intervention, Berthelsen argued.
“We are not for sale and that we will not be annexed,” he said. “We will determine our own future, and we will continue to work with Denmark and the United States. We have always considered the United States as our ally. That has always been so for many years.
“It’s not very comfortable to receive threats from a lifelong friend, a lifelong ally. Cooperation cannot take place if we are receiving threats like these constantly. How can we cooperate when we are receiving constant threats with military intervention? Nobody does that to their friends, or people they cooperate with.”
Contacted for comment, the White House deferred to a statement made by the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, on Wednesday. “All options are always on the table for President Trump as he examines what’s in the best interest of the United States, but I will just say that the president’s first option always has been diplomacy,” she said.
