ROCK GOD V TRUMP

War of words between music great and pro-US figure over island future

- BY MARK MCGIVERN in Nuuk, Greenland

A GREENLANDIC rock god has come out fighting against Donald Trump's desire to take over the country.

Per Berthelsen's band Sume are revered as the fathers of rock in Greenland.

Now an MP, the 75-year-old is enraged by the antics of Trump supporter Jorgen Boassen, who has been promoting the idea of a US takeover to his fellow islanders.

Boassen, 51, arranged Donald Trump jnr's visit to Nuuk last January and has claimed Greenland is "on the brink of civil war" over Trump snr’s plans to annexe the mineral-rich island.

Berthelsen said: "I was going to keep out of the argument but I feel I have been drawn in.

"And there is one individual, really working closely with the United States, spreading fake news.

"Boassen is doing a lot of dangerous things, talking about a possibility for civil war in our country and so on.

"He comes with a lot of fake news. He's not a politician. He's not an elected person." Berthelsen, the founder of the ruling Demokraatit Party, said Boassen's conduct could even be in breach of Greenlandic law.

Sume, formed in 1972, was the first band to perform songs in the Greenlandic language.

They sang about culture and independence from Denmark but Berthelsen has tempered his views and believes Greenland should only become independent when it is able to stand strong with its own economy.