The air inside the community hall in Greenland’s capital was thick with warmth, a welcome contrast to the icy streets outside. As voters brushed snow from their coats, candidates from most of Greenland’s major parties sat down in the front of the room, ready for questions.

Every seat was filled, two dozen international journalists lined the walls and a man in a black and grey sweater stepped forward to the mic.

“Why is running a small business still so difficult?” he asked, his voice steady but impatient.

Cameras clicked and so did the strap-on spikes that several journalists wore on their boots to keep from slipping on the ice. “You need to take those off,” the moderator said. “They’re ruining the floor.”

With some grumbles, the spikes came off.

On Tuesday, Greenlanders will cast their votes in what has to be the most closely watched election this island has ever held, as President Trump asserts again and again that he wants the US to take over Greenland. He has refused to rule out force, and in his recent speech to Congress, he made a direct plea to the Greenlanders themselves, promising, “We will make you rich.” All the attention he has paid has drawn a wave of journalists, diplomats, social media influencers and investors to the Arctic.

Greenland’s leading political parties are presenting different visions for the future and some are pushing for a new relationship with the US and quick independence from Denmark, which colonised Greenland years ago and still controls some of its affairs.

But for many of Greenland’s 56,000 residents — a tiny population on the world’s biggest island — geopolitics is not a priority. At the recent town hall debate and in interviews with voters, Greenlanders expressed much more prosaic worries, often about living costs, unemployment, schools and health care.

“The election is shaped by what I would call a ‘cross-pressure’ — two competing narratives pulling in different directions,” said Rasmus Leander Nielsen, a political scientist at Ilisimatusarfik University in the capital, Nuuk. “The geopolitical debates might dominate headlines, but for the average voter, daily life matters more.”

Trump floated the idea of the US buying Greenland from Denmark during his first term. After Denmark said no, the idea seemed to die.

But this time around, Trump seems determined to “get” Greenland, as he puts it. His refusal to rule out force has sent jitters across Europe, where relations with his administration are already hitting new lows over a number of issues, including tariffs.

New York Times News Service