“Mr. Prime Minister, have you spoken to President Trump yet?” I asked as he fled a lunchtime news conference on Tuesday in the capital city, Nuuk (population 20,000). Egede, who is 37, wore a green zip-up sweater, stared straight ahead, and was walking toward me. He said nothing.

Trump’s fixation with Greenland has been backed by his party, including Republican congressman Andy Ogles, who authored a bill to allow the U.S. to purchase the island and told Fox News Tuesday: “We are, quite frankly, the dominant predator.”