NUUK, Greenland — Canada opened a consulate in Nuuk on Friday, signaling support for Greenlanders rattled by President Donald Trump’s sovereignty threats while trying to avoid a fight with Washington.

The mission was in motion well before Trump’s saber-rattling. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand called it key to Canada’s Arctic strategy as Ottawa tries to manage its relationship with the U.S. ahead of looming trade talks.

“I am underscoring that opening this consulate has been part of our intentions in our Arctic foreign policy for some time,” Anand told POLITICO on Friday after arriving in Greenland’s tiny, remote capital. “We will also be opening a consulate in Anchorage.”

Trump’s recent threats to acquire Greenland reframed this week’s flag-raising ceremonies by Canada and France — establishing new missions designed to reassure Greenland without setting off Washington. Trump’s remarks have strained relations between Europe and the U.S. and added pressure on Canada ahead of this summer’s review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

“Look, the United States is our closest trading partner, and we have a long economic and security and defense history with them, and we want to continue to build those ties, especially get back to the table for review of the USMCA in 2026,” Anand said.

But Anand’s flag raising in Nuuk on Friday carried some extra diplomatic heft: Gov. Gen. Mary Simon — the king’s representative in Canada — plus, the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Jean Goodwill, which anchored in Nuuk’s picturesque harbor.

“It also is a show of support for Greenlanders during a time in their long history, where they are feeling a sense of anxiety and concern,” Anand said.

Simon, who is Canada’s first Indigenous governor general, is Inuk, and was greeted in Nuuk by several dozen of the 90 Canadian Inuit who flew in a day early as a show of solidarity.

They gave her a hero’s welcome, as she shook hands and posed for photos and selfies.

Afterward, Natan Obed, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, called Canada’s move an important show of support — even if it is unlikely to sway the president. “I’m not quite sure that Donald Trump is going to be at all moved by Canada opening a consulate here,” he told POLITICO.

“But what I do hope is that Canada and its allies will see this as a very positive step … we not only will have allies that are traditional — whether it be in the Commonwealth or NATO — but also for countries that have respect for Indigenous people’s rights of self-determination.”

In a speech to a reception of diplomats, officials and Inuit from Canada, Obed took a thinly veiled swipe at Trump’s foreign policy and “this old idea, of Manifest Destiny.”

“I can’t even imagine, for the Inuit here from Greenland, what it is like to read about yourselves in the papers in such ways that are disrespectful and don’t follow the self-determination, the human rights and the territorial autonomy that you have over your homeland,” he said.

Virginia Mearns, who was appointed Canada’s Arctic ambassador last summer will be joined in Nuuk by France’s Jean-Noël Poirier, who took up his post Friday as consul general to the autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark, following a high-profile visit by President Emmanuel Macron in December.

“Canada is a partner and a friend here, and we have a very constant dialogue with them,” a French diplomat told POLITICO on the condition they not be named to discuss relations in Greenland.

Anand arrived in Nuuk from Copenhagen where she met with Denmark’s Foreign Affairs Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. On Friday afternoon, she met her Greenland counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, and heard “just how worried Greenlanders are” about the future.

Anand pointed to Russia’s expanding footprint and the negative effects of climate change.

“The Russian infrastructure has been moving further and further north towards the Arctic Circle. What that means is we have to adopt a cooperative approach to Arctic defense and security,” Anand said.

“Minister Motzfeldt and I discussed that the ski slopes here are having a hard time opening because there’s not enough snow, and that they have concerns about the effects that climate change is having on their economy … and, of course, from a defense and security standpoint.”