Donald Trump’s threats and coercion against Greenland have stopped – at least for the moment – but the hurt and fear stemming fromYears of intimidation by the American president left a deep impact on the island.

Nivi Rosing, 22, the youngest member of Parliament for the self-governing Danish territory, says that he constantly hears anxiety in people’s voices.

“People are very scared. It’s eating into our daily lives,” she told CBC News during an interview in her parliamentary office in the capital, Nuuk.

Trump began talking about taking Greenland back in 2019 during his first term, but his threats and coercion have escalated dramatically in recent months.

The fact that Trump agreed to allow NATO to take a significant role in Greenland’s military planning, and that a task force that includes the Danish and Greenlandic governments is considering other U.S. concerns, provided little reassurance, according to Rosing.

Because Trump is “so unpredictable,” she says the possibilities of what could happen are hitting the people of Greenland hard.

“Dog owners are vaccinating their dogs so they can leave the country if there is any sign of invasion,” Rosing said.

Island Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told a special session of Greenland’s parliament this week that Trump still wants to control Greenland and said people should not become complacent.

A dizzying political rise

For Rosing, being near the center of one of the world’s most intense geopolitical conflicts in recent memory is the latest chapter in a dizzying political ascent that began a year ago in Canada.

In early 2025, Rosing was a post-secondary student in Ottawa, enrolled in an Inuit studies program offering NWI in collaboration with Algonquin College.

Nunavut Sivuniksavut (NS) offers Inuit-focused studies for up to 70 students per year with programs focused on history, culture and human rights.

A Greenlandic Inuk, Rosing moved to Canada just before the pandemic and graduated from high school in Victoria before moving to Ottawa.

She says teachers, curriculum and fellow studentsare NS he empowered her try to influence the shaping of Greenland’s future.

“(The program) was through Inuit eyes and how our ancestors managed these lands and our culture and healing – and how to use our culture as a tool for political decisions.”

WATCH | Focus on Greenland at the Arctic Security Conference:

Greenland’s sovereignty takes center stage at the Arctic security conference

Global leaders gathered at the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø, Norway, to discuss security in the North and US President Donald Trump’s threats to Greenland’s sovereignty. Among the Canadian speakers at the conference is Governor General Mary Simon.

Rosing says she decided to take time off from school to run for Greenland’s parliament, or Inatsisartut, in the elections last March.

“I was thinking, ‘maybe this is a few months off and I’ll be back,'” she said.

Instead, she won her seat for the Inuit Ataqatigiit party and became part of the ruling coalition government led by Nielsen.

Rosing was appointed to the Committee on Foreign and Security Policy and has since found herself embroiled in existential debates about the future of her island.

Diplomacy at a high level

In January, she was among a group of Danish and Greenlandic parliamentarians who met with a bipartisan delegation of American representatives in Copenhagen.

“We didn’t come with hate,” she said. “We always come with respect and diplomacy.”

Greenland’s political parties betray togethered a joint statementstressing that “we want to be Greenlanders,” not Danes or Americans.

Rosing sat down with the CBC News team after a marathon special parliamentary session this week on where talks with the United States should go.

The Trump administration has said very little about its current goals or discussions on Greenland.

Leaders from Greenland and Denmark said several times that the US must respect the so-called “red lines”, especially regarding the islands’ sovereignty and right to self-determination.

All of Greenland’s political parties want independence, but are divided over how quickly the island should move towards it.

Greenland, which has a population of 57,000, has been part of the Kingdom of Denmark for the better part of 300 years. In 1953, its colonial status was officially abolished, and in 2009 it received an expanded form of self-government.

Canadian connections

Rosing says he plans to attendThis is the opening of the Canadian consulate in Nuuk week.

The diplomatic office will be opened by Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, alongside Canada’s first Indigenous Governor General, Mary Simon, who is Inuk.

Global Affairs said The consulate’s priorities are strengthening the relationship between Canada and Greenland, encouraging personal connections and mobility, and strengthening cooperation in Arctic management and security.

Rosing says developing more people-to-people ties between Canada and Greenland is critical to building resilience against future U.S. threats.

“I want closer ties with Canada. If it’s culture, if it’s business, if it’s education, I think we want to work with Canada. I think the consulate is a good place to start,” she said.

She mentioned that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is from the North.

– I think he knows and has experienced how important a relationship is.

2022. Canada and Denmark officially resolved a long-running water and land border dispute between the two nations centered on Hans Island, near the far north of Greenland.

As part of the deal, Inuit from both Nunavut and Greenland are allowed freedom of movement across the territorial border.

Jeppe Strandsbjerg, an associate professor at the Royal Danish Defense College and the University of Greenland, said Greenlanders are trying to develop their own political ties with the countries and that a stronger Canadian presence in Nuuk is welcome.

“It’s on record and it’s a big deal,” he said.

But getting from Canada to Greenland is difficult and expensive.

Although Iqaluit and Nuuk are only two hours away by air, direct flights between the two cities have hardly remained profitable.

Air Greenland, the main island airline, currently only offers a once weekly seasonal service to Baffin Island in the summer.

Rosing would eventually like to return to Ottawa to pursue an Inuit studies program, but says Trump may have a final say.

“I think there is still a plan and (Trump) wants to own and control Greenland — although it may not be through invasion,” she said.

My mandate is still three years and I don’t know what will happen.