Geographically Greenland is part of North America.

It’s closer to New York City by about 1,000 miles (1,609 km) than to Copenhagen.

This should give Greenlanders pause for thought, opposition MP Pele Broberg of the Naleraq Party told me.

He said people were scared of what Trump would do to Greenland because they were misinformed, largely because of media hysteria.

“It’s true, we are not for sale – but we are open for business. Or we should be.

“Right now we are a colony. We are made to import our goods from Denmark: 4,000km away, rather than from the US which is much closer.”

Broberg described his organisation as the island’s true independence party, pushing he says for freedom, so Greenlanders can trade, on their terms, with any party or country they choose: the US, Denmark or others.

But right now, the US is making demands, rather than business deals between equals.

So what exactly are the national security priorities Trump sees in Greenland?

Briefly put: the shortest route for a Russian ballistic missile to reach continental US is Greenland and the North Pole.

Washington DC already has an early warning air base on the island – but Greenland could serve as a base for missile interceptors as part of the Trump administration’s proposed “Golden Dome” system: a plan to shield the US from all missile attacks.

The US has also reportedly discussed placing radars in waters connecting Greenland, Iceland and the UK – the so-called GIUK Gap. That’s a gateway for Chinese and Russian vessels that Washington wants to track.

There is no evidence to the naked eye when you are in Greenland to back Trump’s recent assertions that there are lots of Chinese and Russian ships currently around the island.

And last week Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian criticised Washington for “using the so-called ‘China threat’ as a pretext for itself to seek selfish gains” in the Arctic.

But Russia and China have been expanding their military capabilities, and have beefed up their co-operation elsewhere in the region – with joint naval patrols and co-developing new shipping routes.

Under pressure from western sanctions over Ukraine, Moscow is keen to ship more to Asia.

Beijing is looking for shorter, more lucrative maritime routes to Europe.

The northern sea route is becoming easier to navigate due to melting ice, and Greenland opened its representation office in Beijing in 2023 in pursuit of deeper ties with China.

When it comes to Arctic security, Nato allies hope to persuade Washington that they are serious. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer reportedly spoke more than once to the US president last week, telling him that Europe will step up its presence even further in the region. He’s also been urging European leaders to increase their cooperation with the US there.

Greenland, Denmark and their Nato allies believe there is room for negotiation with Rubio next week and that, at the very least, Trump swooping in to Greenland militarily is unlikely – though not impossible.

The Arctic powers geographically are Denmark, the US, Canada, Russia, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. An Arctic Council, representing them all, has long tried to maintain the mantra: high north, low tension.

But military chest-beating and unilateralism from Washington over Greenland, plus a wider scramble for advantage between global superpowers, adds to a real sense of jeopardy in the region.

The decades-long delicate balance in the Arctic, in place since the end of the Cold War, and evenly managed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, could be dangerously upset.