Protests Erupt in Greenland Over Trump's Plan to Acquire the Country

Thousands of Greenland citizens took to the streets on Saturday to protest President Donald Trump’s plan to acquire the country.

The president has been intensifying his efforts to take control of the country, arguing that it is necessary for protecting national security from threats coming from China and Russia.

The plan has met with fierce criticism from European nations like Denmark, which governs Greenland. In the U.S., critics claim it is not about national security but an effort to exploit the country’s natural resources.

From Fox News:

Protests erupted in Greenland Saturday as demonstrators rejected President Donald Trump's bid to take over the Arctic island, with protesters chanting that Greenland is "not for sale" and saying they want to determine their own future, Reuters reported.
"We are not interested in being Americans," one protester said in a video during demonstrations in the Greenlandic capital, Nuuk.
The protests followed Trump’s renewed push to acquire Greenland, including a Truth Social post Saturday in which he announced new tariffs on several European countries unless a deal is reached for the island's purchase by the U.S.
In the post, Trump wrote that Denmark and other European nations would face a 10% tariff beginning Feb. 1, rising to 25% on June 1, and said the tariffs would remain in place "until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland."

🇬🇱🇺🇸⚡ Residents of the capital of Greenland, Nuuk, took to the streets to protest against US plans for the island.

The participants chanted slogans demanding that the United States abandon its initiatives, which they view as a threat to Greenland's sovereignty. pic.twitter.com/dNdgDhxIL9
— Osint World (@OsiOsint1) January 18, 2026

An estimated 10,000 Danes gathered in the city hall square Saturday afternoon to express their frustration with President Donald Trump’s rhetoric.
The crowd, which included parents with small children as well as older Danes, wore hats in the style of Trump’s MAGA caps but scrawled with “Make America Go Away,” and waved Greenlandic flags and signs saying, “Hands off Greenland.”
“We have to support Greenland,” said protester Susanne Kristensen. “We are Danes, Greenland are Danes, even though they’re Greenlanders, and we just have to stick together.”
Some protesters expressed fears that if they spoke out about Trump in the press or on social media, his administration could bar them from visiting the United States while he was in office. “I won’t go there until he’s out,” Kristensen said.
The protest came just before Trump announced fresh tariffs on Denmark and its allies, a step that has infuriated European leaders and threatens to reignite a trade war that was meant to have been settled with a deal signed by Trump months ago.

A large-scale protests across Denmark and Greenland.

Demonstrators were opposing U.S. Trump's renewed push to control Greenland for its strategic location, mineral resources, and national security value. pic.twitter.com/Z0ThHnueWK
— orange 🍊 (@orange4u28) January 17, 2026

Trump has been ramping up his push to acquire Greenland from Denmark over the past few weeks. He wrote a letter to Norway’s prime minister in which he said he no longer feels an “obligation to think purely of peace” because he did not win the Nobel Peace Prize. He argued that “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”

Greenland’s and Denmark’s leaders have strongly rejected Trump’s demands, saying the island is not for sale. The European Union called an emergency meeting of all 27 member nations to react to Trump’s tariff threats. France is pushing to activate the E.U.’s “trade bazooka” that would impose severe restrictions on American goods and services.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll published in January showed that only 17 percent of Americans approve of the plan to acquire Greenland with 47 percent saying they disapprove and 35 percent indicating they are unsure.

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