In the eyes of many of his Greenlandic compatriots, Jorgen Boassen is a traitor.
A few weeks ago in a diving bar in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, someone struck him in the face, sending him to the hospital. But whatever the consequences of his convictions, he insists that he is not afraid.
“The United States has my back,” he said.
Mr. Boassen, 51, a former mason, is a fervent supporter of President Trump. He campaigned for him in the United States and helped coordinate Donald Trump Jr.’s visit to Greenland this year. On his coffee table at home, three Magi Vierges hats occupy a place of honor.
Although his defense of the American president – who promised to take control of Greenland “in one direction or the other” – made Mr. Boassen unpopular at home, he also transformed it into an improbable political actor in the Arctic, a region of increasing importance in a warming world eager for its unexploited resources.
While lining up on a sofa in his apartment on the edge of Nuuk, wearing a pink t-shirt sporting the face of Mr. Trump, his phone burst with a flow of texts of journalists and filmmakers who wanted to speak and investors who hoped that he was their ticket for wealth in Greenland.
In the debate on the future of the largest island in the world, a semi-auto-automobile territory abroad in Denmark, Mr. Boassen has been responsible for bringing Greenland and the United States closer.
However, Mr. Boassen noted that he “did not always agree” with the American president.
While Mr. Trump wants to claim the island For the United States, Mr. Boassen rather pushes a close security alliance between an independent Greenland and Washington. This made him one of the most visible Greenlanders waving to break with Denmark.
“Denmark has failed again and again,” he said. “They are not up to the challenge of defending Greenland.”
He has cultivated high -level contacts in the Greenland government and has spent the last months working full time for an organization promoting closer links.
“The future of Greenland looks the brightest with America,” said Boassen.
His mason’s transformation into a political actor began by prolificly publishing on social networks in support of Mr. Trump: sharing memes, defending him in comment discussions and explaining his policy to a Greek audience. Last year, these articles drew Tom’s attention to a former Trump advisor for Arctic Affairs.
“I have become curious,” said Mr. in an interview. “There are not many people in this part of the standing world for Trump.”
M. In, who worked at the Conservative Heritage Foundation, sponsored Mr. Boassen to attend a Trump campaign event in Pittsburgh last fall. During the last section, Mr. Boassen went to Porte for Mr. Trump in Pennsylvania.
The Groenlander says that he likes Mr. Trump’s direct communication style and that “it’s a good person, once you study it”.
Born in Qaqortoq, a small coastal town in southern Greenland, Mr. Boassen was raised by a single mother and a maternal grandmother with little money, in a modest house with little heat – a much different education from that of his political idol.
Quiet child, he has become fascinated by politics through recordings, books and VHS television-“the only way to see the outside world,” he said.
After having derived through a series of jobs, he settled on a mason, building houses in Denmark.
But after being discovered on social networks, he is now director of Greenland for American Daybreak, a non-profit organization founded by Mr. in which promotes the closer ties of the United States-Greenland.
He and Mr. Dance say he met Mr. Trump Jr. During the campaign electoral evening, where he suggested a future visit to Greenland.
Although Mr. Boassen said he did not have direct access to Mr. Trump Jr., he said that he was commissioning the Trump team through Mr. in.
In March, American Daybreak helped to promote a visit to Usha Vance, the wife of Vice-President JD Vance, at the Greenland National Dogs race. But after reports of protests provided for by Greenland activists, the visit was changed to A brief stop by vances in a distant American military outpost on the island.
Despite its ambitions, the American Daybreak website is still reading, “coming soon” and its presence on social networks is limited to the photographs of M. in Greenland and Mr. Boassen posing with personalities like Nigel Farage, Conor McGregor and Senator Ted Cruz.
Although many of the 56,000 people in Greenland want independence, a recent survey of opinion has shown that 85% of them did not want to be part of the United States.
And some are disdaining the efforts of Mr. Boassen. “He just goes on the populist wave,” said Frederik Kreutzmann, a social worker in Sisimiut, the second largest city in Greenland. “I don’t think much about him.”
While Mr. Boassen knows that some people think he is used, he thinks he is part of something bigger – and wants Greenland to grasp the moment when he still has the attention of Mr. Trump.
“I am part of the history of the world now,” said Boassen. “Maybe I’m just a pawn in a bigger game,” he added. “Politics are dirty, but if we don’t move quickly, we will miss our luck.”