NUUK, GREENLAND — President Donald Trump and his top aides’ preferred path to the U.S. taking ownership of Greenland is incentivizing people there to vote in a referendum to align with the United States, according to two people familiar with his thinking and granted anonymity to speak candidly.

But his bombast about needing to own the island for “psychological” reasons and refusal to rule out a military strike to seize land belonging to Denmark, a NATO ally, appears to be undermining that objective.

“All we want is to be treated with respect. But the way they talk about us, about buying Greenland over our heads, that is not respectful,” Bebiane Johansen, 27, a student in Nuuk, told the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, which includes POLITICO. “We do not want to be told from the outside what to do or who to be. We just want to live in peace.”

Trump’s naked desire to take control of Greenland, his harsh ultimatums to Danish officials and increased trolling by the White House aides and outside allies are hardening opposition, according to nearly a dozen Greenlanders interviewed in Nuuk in recent days.

“People here are getting more and more concerned because Trump’s statements keep getting worse. It’s tearing on us,” said Avaaraq S. Olsen, the mayor of Nuuk, Greenland’s largest city.

She pointed to the president’s recent statements about how only owning Greenland would satisfy him, which she said “adds to the frustrations and it raises new feelings of anger towards the American government. It used to be a friendly country.”

For all of Trump’s bluster, aides working on a list of options are focused on how to directly incentivize a Greenland referendum to join the U.S., contemplating information and disinformation campaigns aimed at shifting public opinion, public sector financial offers and private sector inducements, according to one of the people familiar with his thinking.

And he isn’t worried that his public messaging and overall approach to the matter may be making things harder.

“Trump presumes they can be bought,” the person said. “He presumes that about most everyone.”

But by telegraphing that belief so clearly, Trump appears to be engendering deeper resentment from Greenlanders — and new resistance to a potential alignment with the U.S.

“We were open for business, but when they showed that kind of disrespect, we lost that interest,” said Olsen, Nuuk’s mayor. “We cannot be bought. That is not something we want to be a part of.”

Even residents interested in a more independent future are turned off by the recent rhetoric.

Miki Sandgree, a 35-year-old fisherman, said he’s intrigued by the potential opportunities that might come from independence and realignment. But Trump’s remarks have made him less interested in a future alignment with the U.S.

“I’m not sure anymore. It changes a lot. I don’t like the way he is handling the situation,” he said. “The way he talks about us, it feels like going back to colonial times.”

Following Trump’s dismissive joke last week that Denmark’s only recent contribution to Greenland’s security was “one more dogsled,” the Greenland Dog Sledding Association issued a statement on its Facebook page Tuesday that it is “unacceptable that political pressure is being exerted from outside.” It also revoked an invitation to Trump’s newly appointed Greenland envoy, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, to attend the upcoming Avannaata Qimussersua, the Arctic territory’s most prestigious dog sled race.

A parliamentary election last March, which came amid Trump’s first wave of comments about acquiring Greenland, showed that a large majority of the population isn’t interested in an immediate break with Denmark or in aligning with the U.S.

If Trump’s renewed public push on Greenland further dims the prospects of a referendum on the matter, it could leave the president with one less diplomatic option, and, by extension, raise the prospect of a more direct confrontation.

“Trump does not see us as people,” said Mette Berthelsen, 38, a resident of Sisimut, Greenland’s second largest city. “He looks down on us.”

Meanwhile, Greenland and Denmark’s political leaders are drawing a firm line publicly. After making it clear to the White House that they are open to working with the president to bolster Greenland’s security and on deepening coordination with economic development and intelligence sharing, both prime ministers said Tuesday on the eve of a White House meeting that the island is not for sale.

“Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed by the United States. Greenland does not want to be part of the United States,” said Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland’s prime minister, at a press conference alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. “If we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU.”

The two leaders emphasized that they would remain aligned. The foreign ministers from Denmark and Greenland are set to meet at the White House on Wednesday morning with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“President Trump believes that Greenland is a strategically important location that is critical from the standpoint of national security, and he is confident Greenlanders would be better served if protected by the United States from modern threats in the Arctic region,” said Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson. “The President is committed to establishing long-term peace at home and abroad.”

Inside the administration, aides are bullish about Trump’s ability to eventually get what he wants. They point to his real estate career, and over the past year when his, at times, intense pressure on Europe in particular has succeeded in cajoling longtime allies to bend to his terms on everything from NATO defense spending and Ukraine aid to a new trade deal that favors the U.S.

But European leaders have met Trump’s latest attempt to bully Greenland into submission with more public and private resistance. And at home, lawmakers in both parties have expressed opposition to any use of military force against a NATO ally. A bipartisan congressional delegation is traveling to Copenhagen this week to highlight the importance of strong U.S. ties with Denmark.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) who agrees with Trump’s rationale given the growing strategic importance of Greenland as Russia and China look to make inroads in a changing Arctic, said in a recent interview that he found the president’s approach counterproductive.

“I’m not against purchasing Greenland,” Paul said. “But usually if I want to buy something from you, if you had a horse to sell , I don’t go up to you and tell you I hate you and tell you I’m going to use military force to take your horse. It’s not a great strategy for buying something.”

Greenland, a self-governing region of Denmark that straddles strategic sea and air routes between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Sea and has rich rare earth minerals under its soil, has been mulling its independence for several years.

But last year’s election showed a widespread hesitancy among the island’s 57,000 residents about making an immediate break from Denmark, which funds Greenland’s schools, infrastructure and healthcare through a block grant. A poll ahead of the vote showed that 85 percent of Greenlanders opposed leaving the Danish realm to align with the U.S. Nalerq, the political party that backs fast-tracking independence and forging closer ties with the U.S., won 25 percent of the vote.

Another woman in Nuuk, 52, who asked not to be identified, said that Trump’s territorial ambitions are suddenly a constant topic of dinner table conversation and creating widespread anxiety across the country. “Some people are really afraid and can’t sleep at night because of the threats,” she said.

Trump, who said in an interview with The New York Times last week that owning Greenland is important for “psychological” reasons, does not see negotiations with Denmark to coordinate improved security as sufficient. And he has continued to make several public statements in the 10 days since the U.S. operation that ousted Venezuela’s former leader that America taking control of Greenland was inevitable.

“We are going to do something in Greenland, whether they like it or not,” Trump said at the White House Friday. “If we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way.”

Daniella Cheslow contributed to this report.