NUUK, Greenland, March 12 (Reuters) - Greenland's pro-business Demokraatit Party surged to victory in a shake-up that could boost U.S. President Donald Trump's attempts to tap the island's mineral wealth, with the victors keen for reforms favouring private enterprise and mining.

The Democrats, which favour gradual independence from Denmark, more than tripled their seats to 10 in the 31-seat Inatsisartut parliament, according to results released on Wednesday, and will begin talks to form a coalition.

The strongly pro-independence Naleraq doubled their seats to eight from the prior election, while the ruling coalition lost almost half of its share of the vote.

"People want change," the Democrats' leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen told reporters in Nuuk after the final vote count. "We don't want independence tomorrow, we want to build a good foundation."

Independence became the central campaign theme in Tuesday's election after Trump's repeated insistence that the semi-autonomous Danish territory is vital to U.S. national security and will eventually become part of the United States.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/greenland-votes-pro-business-independence-parties-trump-interest-looms-2025-03-12/