In their words: Greenlanders talk about Trump's desire to own their Arctic island

In their words: Greenlanders talk about Trump's desire to own their Arctic island U.S. President Donald Trump has turned Greenland into a geopolitical hotspot with his demands to own it NUUK, Greenland -- U.S. President Donald Trump has turned the Arctic island of Greenland into a geopolitical hotspot with his demands to own it and suggestions that the U.S. could take it by force. The island is a semiautonomous region of Denmark, and Denmark's foreign minister said Wednesday after a meeting at the White House that a “fundamental disagreement” remains with Trump over the island. The crisis is dominating the lives of Greenlanders and "people are not sleeping, children are afraid, and it just fills everything these days. And we can’t really understand it,” Naaja Nathanielsen, a Greenlandic minister said at a meeting with lawmakers in Britain’s Parliament this week. Here's a look at what Greenlanders think: Trump has dismissed Denmark’s defenses in Greenland, suggesting it’s “two dog sleds.” By saying that, Trump is “undermining us as a people,” Mari Laursen told AP. Laursen said she used to work on a fishing trawler but is now studying law. She approached AP to say she thought previous examples of cooperation between Greenlanders and Americans are “often overlooked when Trump talks about dog sleds.” She said during World War II, Greenlandic hunters on their dog sleds worked in conjunction with the U.S. military to detect Nazi German forces on the island. “The Arctic climate and environment is so different from maybe what they (Americans) are used to with the warships and helicopters and tanks. A dog sled is more efficient. It can go where no warship and helicopter can go,” Laursen said. Trump has repeatedly claimed Russian and Chinese ships are swarming the seas around Greenland. Plenty of Greenlanders who spoke to AP dismissed that claim. “I think he (Trump) should mind his own business,” said Lars Vintner, a heating engineer. “What's he going to do with Greenland? He speaks of Russians and Chinese and everything in Greenlandic waters or in our country. We are only 57,000 people. The only Chinese I see is when I go to the fast food market. And every summer we go sailing and we go hunting and I never saw Russian or Chinese ships here in Greenland,” he said. Down at Nuuk's small harbor, Gerth Josefsen spoke to AP as he attached small fish as bait to his lines. He said, “I don't see them (the ships)” and said he had only seen “a Russian fishing boat ten years ago.” Maya Martinsen, 21, a shop worker, told AP she doesn't believe Trump wants Greenland to enhance America's security. “I know it’s not national security. I think it’s for the oils and minerals that we have that are untouched,” she said, suggesting the Americans are treating her home like a “business trade.” She said she thought it was good that American, Greenlandic and Danish officials met in the White House Wednesday and said she believes that “the...

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