Greenland Is Not a Prize – It Is a Society and It Is Not For Sale

‘The only thing stopping Trump from monetising Greenland is that you can’t put it on a mug. Yet’

Donald Trump has never been a man who does things quietly, or particularly logically. Chaos is the policy. Disruption is the strategy. By the time he had set his sights on Greenland, most of the world had long stopped being surprised by what came out of his mouth; and yet, for the 56,000 people who live there, this particular fixation landed differently. At some point in 2019, Nuuk was, as most cities do, approving planning permission for a new buildings and centres. However, in Washington someone was asking whether or not Greenland is for sale, and how much it would cost to simply take it. Because let’s face it, if it can be branded, Trump wants it, and if it can’t, he’ll find a way. But, for Greenlanders, this was not a passing remark but a recurring obsession, a very serious one at that. 

In early 2018, Trump received an Arctic security briefing detailing locations and resources, quickly becoming fixated on Greenland’s strategic value. A continuing theme throughout his first term, he openly proposed purchasing Greenland, ‘a thought that should have remained internal’ seeping into the public space with Denmark’s PM voicing this as “absurd” leading to Trump cancelling his state visit in retaliation. This division continued to create the ripple effect, further heightened once again in December 2024, with post-election Truth Socials; stating ownership of Greenland is “an absolute necessity”. The following month, Trump refused to rule out using military force, with the deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, architect of the racist and draconian policies that now surround the White House stated, ‘Nobody is going to fight [us] over the future of Greenland”. This quite frankly forceful and disgraceful rhetoric came to a head on January 17^th, 2026, with the largest protest in Greenlandic history, with 25% of Nuuk’s population flooding the streets vowing to not give in to this form of intimidation.

Even though these threats never resulted in physical action, it constitutes a form of structural disruption. Long range infrastructure planning, from schools and airports even so far as trade and landscapes, becomes distorted, left on the precipice of deciding what will be next. How does a country plan for its future, whilst all the while living under the shadow of Trumps administration? Through this repeated tactic, civic confidence is in danger of eroding. As young Greenlanders are asked to build futures on the same grounds that authoritative figures threaten to claim as their own. This form of ‘soft destabilisation’ does not require force or ammunition, rather uncertainty. This distinguishes it from our well known, ‘classic’ geopolitical posturing such as bargaining and airspace incursions. A new form of undermining countries is emerging, this is especially significant for Greenland, their natural resources are some of the most abundant in the world, its untapped minerals, rare metals and fossil fuels having always drawn global attention. The sights set upon Greenland were never principled, rather that of ‘flashing dollar signs’ illuminating; it is one of ownership and expansion of the United States territory, slowly creeping over the North – fancying themselves the world's police. Europe’s response to all of this has been, at best, cautious. At worst, it has been the kind of careful silence that masquerades as diplomacy. Denmark is a NATO ally and an EU member state; Greenland sits within its constitutional kingdom. The framework designed to uphold self-determination, the very architecture EU leaders invoke when it suits them; has been conspicuously underused. Whilst there have been statements with Keir Starmer saying “the right way to approach an issue... is through calm discussion” this historically is not one of Trump’s best qualities. Whilst such statements do hold space for concern for the people, they have not been the kind of forceful coordinated pushback that the situation demands. When a sitting American president refuses to rule out such severe military force against the territory of an ally, “we are monitoring the situation” is not a position, rather an abdication. Europe cannot credibly position itself as a defender of sovereignty on one front while remaining mute on another; the principle does not have exceptions. 

The ‘Hands Off’ protest was the largest in Greenland’s history. Not at the behest of the foreign ministry, not as part of a coordinated diplomatic manoeuvre, but because people who live somewhere tend to have a rightful opinion about who owns it. Greenland has institutions, elections, and when pushed far enough, some of the most self-evident protest signs in recent political history. Europe would do well to match that clarity. Greenland has already given its answer. The question now is whether its allies have the conviction to hear it. The damage of this kind of rhetoric is not measured in casualties, rather uncertainty, when repeated loudly enough and from a powerful enough source, this ‘soft destabilisation’ tactic does the work on its own.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Quintin Soloviev

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