Former US ambassador Rufus Gifford says Trump administration has caused psychological harm in Greenland

Former US Ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford has criticised the Trump administration during a visit to Nuuk, saying its actions over the past year and a half have inflicted serious psychological harm on the people of Greenland, according to Danish public broadcaster DR.

Gifford, who served as ambassador under President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017, is in Greenland for the tenth time and was invited to speak at the Future Greenland business conference in Nuuk, which has drawn international press coverage from outlets including the New York Times, BBC, and news agency AFP.

“Americans should think of Greenland as a place to invest in and travel to, not as a place where you threaten the country’s sovereignty,” Gifford told DR.

His remarks came on the same day that Donald Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, Jeff Landry, made a brief appearance at the same conference.

“This is a difficult chapter in world history, and I believe it is the fault of the American administration. I believe that with all my heart,” Gifford said.

Greenlanders have not asked for this

Gifford said the diplomatic tensions between the United States and Greenland and Denmark had directly hurt ordinary Greenlanders. He pointed to a conference speech delivered earlier in the week about how uncertain Trump’s rhetoric had made people in Greenland feel in their daily lives.

“You cannot overestimate the psychological damage that the past year and a half has caused here in Greenland,” he said. “Greenlanders have not asked for this, they have not deserved it, and now they have to live with it every single day.”

Despite his criticism of the current US administration, Gifford said he felt welcomed in Nuuk. “I am welcomed as an American, even in these difficult times when other Americans are walking the streets here with a different message. So it is emotional for me,” he said.