A group of Greenlanders who attended a luncheon hosted by Donald Trump Jr and wearing Make America Great Again caps were not devoted supporters of the US president-elect but homeless people attracted by the prospect of free food, it has been revealed. – we asserted.
Trump Jr visited Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, last week shortly after his father said it was an “absolute necessity” for the United States to take control of the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
During his visit, Trump Jr went to the Hans Egede Hotel to have lunch with a group of people wearing Maga hats and put his father on speakerphone. The president-elect told them: “We are going to treat you well. »
But Jørgen Bay-Kastrup, the hotel’s general manager, said many of his guests were not Trump supporters, but people his team met on the street and only later found out who was Trump Jr.
Describing much of the group as homeless, he said Trump Jr. “just met them on the street and invited them to lunch, or his team did.” But I don’t think they knew who they were inviting.”
“Of course, this seemed a bit strange to us, as we saw guests that we had never seen in our hotel before – and will probably never see again because it is not within their economic reach. »
The group of about 15 people ate a traditional Greenlandic lunch including fish and caribou. They were not, Bay-Kastrup added, Trump supporters. “They were just like, ‘Hey, someone invited us to lunch, let’s go join them.’ I think they found out later who it was.
A spokesperson for Trump Jr denied the claims, calling them “beyond ridiculous”.
Trump Jr’s visit comes as his father refuses to rule out the use of military or economic action to acquire the world’s largest island.
Republicans in the House of Representatives released a bill called the Make Greenland Great Again Act, which would allow the Trump administration, which takes office Monday, to conduct negotiations to try to purchase the land.
Greenland and Denmark have repeatedly said the island, whose foreign and security policy is controlled by NATO member Denmark, is not for sale. Greenland’s prime minister, however, said his government wanted to deepen collaboration with the United States and had “the doors open in terms of mining.”
Asked about Trump’s interest in Greenland, Bay-Kastrup, who is Danish, said: “We’re not a business, we’re not something to sell.” We would like to cooperate, but we are not for sale.
Since Trump Jr’s visit, people dressed in Maga caps and American flags have reportedly handed out $100 bills and filmed the scene in front of the supermarket across the street.
One man, Jacob Nordstrøm, was quoted in the Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq as saying that his son, 11, had come home with a $100 bill. He told the newspaper, which described those distributing the money as Canadian-American influencers: “It’s truly shocking to learn that my 11-year-old son received money from an adult he doesn’t know. »
Bay-Kastrup, who witnessed the scenes from his office, said he thought most people probably found the stunt amusing, but that he saw one person take a Maga cap and dab it.
In response to the Guardian’s request for comment on Trump Jr’s lunch guests, Arthur Schwartz, a political operative and friend of the president-elect’s son, said: “Do you think Donald Trump Jr was wandering around Greenland inviting guests? homeless…to lunch, or Do you realize that the suggestion seems so ridiculous that you should feel stupid even asking the question?
“There were cameras following him from the second he arrived to the second he left. Did they miss him recruiting homeless people…for his homeless lunch?
