The art of no deal: A Greenlandic carver’s vengeful response to Trump shows opportunity amid crisis

Greenland artist Kim Kleist-Eriksen doesn't just carve intricate pieces of Inuit mythology out of sperm whale teeth and walrus tusks — he also carves political rebuttals.

When U.S. President Donald Trump's geopolitical circus arrived in Greenland and "the guy from the United States" started treating his home like a real estate deal, Kleist-Erkisen says his young daughter told him she was scared. 

"I was pissed. I wanted to do something with my art," he told CBC News in his Nuuk studio. Kleist-Eriksen is a Kalaaleq, or Inuk, from Sisimiut, Greenland.

In a fit of artistic fury, he created a tupilak — a vengeful Greenlandic monster. One of his previous works shows the creature looming over the heads of three European missionaries who came to colonize the island in the 18th century. 

This time, he swapped the faces, replacing the colonizers' faces with Trump's. 

"All the colonizers who want our land, I've created them like that," he said.

His "revenge" art was a huge hit, garnering thousands of views as soon as he posted the piece on social media.

"It sold within 10 minutes after I finished it," he said.

Kleist-Eriksen isn't the only Greenlander who sees opportunity amidst the crisis that Trump's imperial delusions over his home have created. Tourism operators are dealing with a surge of international interest, and those pushing for Greenland's independence are trying to capitalize on openings to forge stronger international bonds.

Although Kleist-Eriksen pushes back against Trump's acquisition plans for Greenland, he speaks fondly about his year as an exchange student at an Arizona high school and says he felt instantly at home in the dry desert air of the U.S. Southwest.

"Maybe in my earlier life, I was an American living in Arizona, maybe, because I never felt that way," he said. 

Crisis brings new opportunities

It is perhaps this duality that allows him to also appreciate the opportunities this Trump-generated crisis has presented.

For his entire career, Kleist-Erikson said he's always had to explain to international clients where his home is and who exactly lives there.

Now, he says everyone knows — even if it's for the wrong reasons.

"Finally, we’re getting the attention of the world," he said. 

And for a carver looking for new opportunities, he says the attention is welcome.

"Being an artist living in a city [Nuuk] where there’s only 16,000 people can be hard sometimes, but it's getting better and I’m building up my name," he said. "So far, so good."

His latest opportunity has come courtesy of Canada, where he received an unsolicited email recently from curators at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

"I was asked if I could present some of my work over there and I gladly answered, yes."

In an email to CBC News, a gallery spokesperson confirmed that a sculpture by Kleist-Erkisen, called Erlaveersiniooq, which refers to a Greenlandic spirit, will go on display starting in June. 

It will be part of an exhibition called Qillaniq devoted to showcasing artists from the circumpolar Arctic region.

"I'd love to show my art to the rest of the world, and Canada is one of the first responders to do it. I really appreciate that," he said.

Increase in tourism

The so-called "Trump effect" on Greenland is also being credited with a surge in interest from would-be tourists, while also initially contributing to concerns about how safe it is for people to travel there.

Now that the U.S. president has ruled out a military takeover, those concerns appear to have abated.

"For quite a while, we saw humongous interest from the world, but there was also a bit of hesitance because of the statements from Donald Trump," said Casper Frank Møller, a co-founder of Raw Arctic, a Nuuk-based tour company.

"Right now, here in the aftermath, we see a really big interest in people wanting to [come] here."

Møller, 28, founded his tour company 18 months ago. Starting out with just himself and two other co-founders, by the end of their first year of business in 2025, their company had grown to 25 people on the payroll.

"We've multiplied our revenue by 10, and I think this year is going to be even more crazy," he said.

Greenland's government is actively promoting the expansion of tourism as one of its key economic goals, aiming for longer-staying, high paying visitors rather than simply pushing high volumes. 

Møller says most of the new interest in visiting Greenland has come from Americans.

"What has opened up is the possibility of Greenland really becoming part of the international economy, taking part in new partnerships, and I think the current situation should really try to be used in a positive way for Greenland and especially for economic development,” he said.

Even before Trump drew a bullseye around Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, the island had taken major steps to improve its visibility, accessibility and tourism potential.

In late 2024, Nuuk opened a new airport that can accommodate wide-body commercial aircraft from Europe and North America. Two other Greenland communities are also expected to open new airports in the coming year.

Greenland welcomed more than 140,000 tourists in 2024, the latest year for which tourism statistics are available. That represents roughly five per cent of the territory's total gross domestic product.

A surge in cruise ship passengers has been responsible for much of the new traffic.

Even so, a Greenland holiday remains a very high-end vacation. 

Direct flights from Copenhagen to Nuuk, a four-and-half-hour flight, often cost as much as $2,000 for a return ticket. Air Greenland operates a summer seasonal flight between Nuuk and Iqaluit, which costs roughly $800 return. 

The island is also facing a shortage of hotel rooms, particularly in smaller communities.

Nonetheless, Møller of Raw Arctic, says Trump has presented Greenland with potentially historic opportunities.

"Greenland is not for sale, but we are open for exploring," he said.

Shifting political landscape

Parliamentarian Juno Berthelsen, an opposition member of the Naleraq party that is pushing for independence from Denmark to happen sooner rather than later, supports increasing connections between the United States and Canada and reducing Greenland's dependence on Denmark and Europe.

"We've had a one-tier system going through Denmark and Europe for several hundred years. And it's not sustainable for Greenland," he told CBC News in Nuuk. 

Greenland's governing coaltion made a strong statement at the height of Trump's takeover threats that islanders "choose Denmark over the U.S.," a binary choice that has angered many in Berthelsen's party.

Instead, he says party welcomes closer ties with both Canada and the United States, although like Greenland's other political parties, he rejects the U.S. president's attempts at coercion.

But like others who spoke to CBC News, he also says the crisis created by Trump offers new possibliities.

"So, in terms of building on trade, cultural exchange, education or on the job market — in all kinds of different sectors — we can have partnerships with Canada that gives us better stability in Greenland," he said.