It hangs in the air like a pause you don’t quite dare to believe in.
Since Donald Trump’s retreat concerning Greenland, there has been silence. The question is whether this silence actually heralds a storm.
For documentarian Christoffer Guldbrandsen, currently in Greenland, there is no doubt: The American president is not done with Greenland.
»Trump is like a mouse in a maze looking for the cheese. If he runs down a dead end, he turns around and tries to find a new way«, Guldbrandsen says over a phone connection from Nuuk early in the morning, while the Greenlandic capital still sleeps.
»The only thing that can stop Trump is if the opposition becomes so great that the personal costs outweigh the benefits. Trump never stops on his own«.
Closer than most
Guldbrandsen has been deep inside the inner workings of the Maga movement.
In the documentary ’A Storm Foretold’ (2023), he followed one of the movement’s main architects, Roger Stone, as the narrative of the stolen presidential election was built, repeated, and ultimately culminated violently on January 6, 2021.
And while many saw the storming of the U.S. Capitol as a definitive end for Trump and Maga, Guldbrandsen drew the opposite conclusion.
»January 6 was the beginning of the madness we see in the USA today«, Guldbrandsen says.
The footage took on a life far beyond the screen. Guldbrandsen was involved in the FBI’s investigation and subpoenaed by the U.S. Congress, where clips from the film were used in the effort to map out the assault.
It wasn’t the first time his camera had been inside the innermost rooms of power. Since his breakthrough work ’Fogh Behind the Facade’ (2003), Guldbrandsen has spent more than two decades following decision-makers at the moment power is exercised – often so close that the camera seems to disappear and the scenes unfold without a filter.
In his latest project, he is again at the center of a historic flashpoint: Since the beginning of 2025, Guldbrandsen has closely followed Greenlandic politicians – especially Jens-Frederik Nielsen’s meteoric rise to power – while the corridors of power in Copenhagen have formed the second axis of the story.
The new documentary, which does not yet have a set release date, is intended as a sequel to ’A Storm Foretold’.
While the first film depicted Trump’s dismantling of American norms and institutions, the new one shows how the same political logic clashes with the international community.
»When power trumps rules and psychology overrules institutions, it meets our democracies that still believe in and operate within a rule-based order«, Guldbrandsen says.
For Trump, politics is primarily about staging, Guldbrandsen believes. He points out that Greenland fits perfectly into that logic: an enormous territory that can expand the U.S. borders precisely in the year the nation marks its 250th anniversary.
»In that way, he could make himself immortal«, Guldbrandsen says.
There is neither an agreement nor a concession that can satisfy Trump, Guldbrandsen assesses. The crucial thing is the narrative of strength, he says:
»And here, land is the ultimate symbol of power«.
Europe’s moment and the lost USA
It was an ominous signal in December 2024 from the newly elected American president that made Guldbrandsen turn his attention to Greenland.
Here, Trump announced Ken Howery as the upcoming U.S. ambassador to Denmark – accompanied by a clear message about American control over Greenland.
For Guldbrandsen, the situation in Greenland is »the most interesting story in the world right now«. High politics in its most concentrated form. His ambition is to make it concrete – and that’s why Greenland is so narratively inspiring, he says.
Since then, Guldbrandsen has commuted between Denmark and Greenland.
In recent weeks, he has been in Nuuk. He was there when European NATO soldiers suddenly appeared in the city. And when Trump refused to rule out the use of military force.
»For those who live here, it suddenly became very concrete: Should we sell the house? There are children, there is everyday life«, he says.
When Trump later backtracked and declared that military force was not on the table, the relief among Greenlanders was palpable.
But Guldbrandsen does not believe it was Trump’s own restraint that made the difference:
»The will and ability to stand together in Europe was what slowedTrump«.
Slowed – but not stopped.
According to Christoffer Guldbrandsen, it is not a confrontation that has been averted but one that has been postponed.
»The values that govern the USA today are in direct opposition to those we believe in Europe«, Guldbrandsen says.
That’s why Guldbrandsen does not hold out hope that the transatlantic relationship can return to the familiar once Trump’s current term is over.
»Because I don’t think those who come after Trump in the USA will be easier to handle in Europe«.
And in the long term, Guldbrandsen fears that the political movement that has transformed the USA will also leave lasting marks in Europe:
»For me, the USA is like watching a tragic and brutal traffic accident in slow motion. The USA is lost. And therefore, it is no longer primarily about the USA, but about Europe – and Europe’s future«.
A fragile comfort
Donald Trump’s surprising election victory in 2016 was the moment that truly sparked Christoffer Guldbrandsen’s curiosity.
Since then, the desire to understand the Maga movement has been the focal point of Guldbrandsen’s work.
»I believe Trump’s first term was an expression of him jumping in front of a movement that was already marching. Now he has become much more defining«, he says.
Polls show that a majority of Americans – including Republicans – are against a takeover of Greenland.
It is a fragile comfort, Guldbrandsen warns.
»The moment Trump acts on it, you can safely expect Republican support to follow«, he says and continues:
»He has managed to transform the party from being a conventional political movement to becoming a personality cult«.
When the current documentary is finished, he plans to turn his attention to the U.S. midterm elections later this year.
»The outlook is – and there is a long time until November – that Trump will suffer a spectacular defeat«, he says, but then adds:
»We know from experience that he will not accept an election defeat«.
The last time Trump lost, American institutions were pushed to the breaking point. Back then, they held firm.
In 2026, Guldbrandsen is far less optimistic. For where there were officials and advisors in Trump’s first presidential term who served as a counterbalance, they are now gone, he says:
»There are no constraints on Trump«.
