In the eyes of many of his fellow greenlanders, Jorgen Boassen is a traitor.
A few weeks ago in a diving bar in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, someone hit him in the face and sent him to the hospital. But whatever the consequences of his beliefs are, he insists that he is not afraid.
“The United States has my back,” he said.
Mr. Boassen, 51, a former bricklayer, is a fiery proponent of President Trump. He campaigned for him in the United States and this year helped the visit of Donald Trump Jr. to coordinate Greenland. Three pristine Maga hats occupy a place of honor on his coffee table at home.
Although his champion of the US President – who has sworn “to take over” Greenland in one way or another – Mr. Boassen has made home unpopular, it has also turned him into an unlikely political player in the Arctic, a region of growing importance in a warming world that is enthusiastic about his countless means.
While he was on a couch in his apartment on the outskirts of Nuuk, he wore a pink t-shirt that with the face of Mr. Trump was decorated, buzzing his phone with a stream of texts from journalists and filmmakers who wanted to talk and investors who hoped he was their ticket for wealth in Greenland.
In the debate about the future of the world’s largest island, a semi -autonomous overseas territory of Denmark, Mr. Boassen made it his mission to bring Greenland and the United States closer together.
Yet Mr. Boassen noted that he “doesn’t always agree” with the American president.
While Mr. Trump wants to claim the island For the United States, Mr. Boassen, instead, pushes a tight security alliance between an independent Greenland and Washington. That has made him one of the most visible Groenlanders who agitated to break with Denmark.
“Denmark has always failed,” he said. “They are not the challenge to defend Greenland.”
He has cultivated contacts at a high level in the government of Greenland and has worked full-time in recent months for an organization that promotes closer to the American Greenland tires.
“The future of Greenland looks smartest with America,” said Mr. Boassen.
His transformation from bricklayer to political player started to post production on social media to support Mr. Trump: sharing memes, defending him in comment Threads and explaining his politics to a greenlandic audience. Last year, those posts caught the attention of Tom Dans, a former Trump advisor for Arctic Affairs.
“I became curious,” Mr Dans said in an interview. “There are not many people in that part of the world who stand up for Trump.”
Mr Dans, who used to work at the Conservative Heritage Foundation, sponsored Mr. Boassen to attend a Trump campaign event event in Pittsburgh. During the last part, Mr. Boassen from door to door for Mr. Trump in Pennsylvania.
De Groenlander says he has the direct communication style of Mr. Trump keeps and that “he is a good person, once you study him.”
Born in Qaqortoq, a small coastal town in southern Greenland, Mr. Boassen was raised by a single mother and grandmother of mother’s side with little money, in a modest house with little heat – a clear different upbringing than that of his political idol.
A quiet child, he was fascinated by politics by VHS tires, books and television – “the only way to see the outside world,” he said.
After he was driven by a series of jobs, he settled on a bricklayer and built houses in Denmark.
But after he has been discovered on social media, he now serves as a Greenland director for American Daybreak, a non-profit organization founded by Mr. Dans who promotes closer to the ties of the US-Greenland.
He and Mr. Dance say he met Mr. Trump Jr. At the election night of the campaign, where he presented a future visit to Greenland.
Although Mr. Boassen said that he has no direct access to Mr Trump Jr., he said that he is communicating with the Trump team through Mr Dans.
In March American Daybreak helped to promote a visit from USSha Vance, the wife of vice -president JD Vance, to the national dog sled race of Greenland. But after reports of planned protests from Greenlandic activists, the visit was changed to A short stop Due to the vans on a remote American military outpost on the island.
Despite his ambitions, the American Daybreak website is still: ‘coming soon’ and the presence on social media is limited to photos of Mr. Dance in Greenland and Mr. Boassen pose with figures such as Nigel Farage, Conor McGregor and Senator Ted Cruz.
Although many of the 56,000 people from Greenland want independence, a recent opinion poll showed that 85 percent of them did not want to become part of the United States.
And some are negative from the efforts of Mr. Boassen. “He just drives 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.”
Although Mr. Boassen knows that some think he is being used, he believes that he is part of something bigger – and wants Greenland to grab the moment while still the attention of Mr. Trump has.
“I am now part of world history,” said Mr. Boassen. “Maybe I’m just a pawn in a bigger game,” he added. “Politics is dirty, but if we don’t move fast, we will miss our chance.”
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