Words fail us on U.S. threat to Greenland
It’s getting harder and harder to express the shock and fear that stem from Trump’s takeover plans
People stroll down a street in Nuuk, Greenland in a photo from September 2024. (File photo by Corey Larocque)
The times we live in are more than “spicy;” they’re scary. They’re more than “uncertain;” they’re deeply troubling.
“Spicy” and “uncertain” were the words Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami — the national organization of Inuit in Canada — used when talking about the threat Greenland is facing from U.S. President Donald Trump.
If the U.S. thinks it can take over the vast, uninhabited lands of Greenland, Trump could make the same case against Inuit Nunangat and Canada, Obed said. He made the comments during this week’s Ingiulik Nunavut Shipping Symposium.
Trump has ramped up his rhetoric, saying the U.S. needs to acquire Greenland for national security reasons. If the U.S. doesn’t do it, Russia or China will, he says. And the U.S. is now poised to take it over “one way or the other.”
Everywhere you turn in the past few weeks, people are at a loss for words to express their shock at the American president’s plan to take over Greenland, which has formally been a part of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1953.
A week ago, in an interview with Nunatsiaq News, Nunavut Premier John Main called the thought process of some international actors about Greenland “bewildering.”
We noticed on Monday, when his office issued a news release about Nunavut’s solidarity with Greenland, that he had dropped the word “bewildering.”
Perhaps over the weekend, he got some clarity about Trump’s motives.
Just one week ago, this editorial space warned that 2026 was already shaping up to be even more of a wild ride politically than we expected 2025 to be.
At the risk of beating the same drum again, the alarming situation has been changing rapidly.
American designs on Greenland are one of the most serious risks to global stability in years — arguably since the 9/11 attacks on the United States, or the threat of nuclear war during the Cold War years.
The prospect of the U.S. taking Greenland by force is chilling. A U.S.-Denmark conflict risks the end of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an alliance that has kept Canada and its other members relatively safe and peaceful for more than 75 years.
Trump has talked for years about taking over Greenland. But since the U.S. military’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — just two weeks ago — Trump seems to have been emboldened, his rhetoric has been ratcheted up, and the threat suddenly seems a lot more real than ever before.
Governments, including Canada’s, are lining up to express their solidarity with Greenland. Canada recently opened a consulate in Nuuk, the Greenlandic capital. Gov. Gen. Mary Simon is expected to attend its opening ceremony in February.
This week, France and Germany — members of the NATO military alliance — announced they were sending troops to Greenland alongside Denmark’s own military buildup there.
Germany — the aggressor in the Second World War, which invaded Denmark in 1940 — is now protecting Greenland from the United States, one of the war’s Allied liberators. Let that sink in.
Alaskans need to petition that INUK FIRST LADY OF ALASKA stand up to her party (the Republicans) about this, instead of being silent.
Interesting that you mention Germany. Actually it was nazi Germany that invaded Denmark, violating a non-aggression pact between the 2 countries. What is even more concerning is the resurrection of fascism in the US and Trump is doing what Hitler did when he met with Chamberlain in Munich in 1938 about the annexation of Austria.
Germany is replaced by the US that is sliding day after day in fascism with its own Brown Shirts, masked, unidentified ICE goons kidnapping and shooting people on the streets of US Democratic cities and towns. After Austria’s annexation, nazi Germany became unstoppable and the world ended in one of the most atrocious wars. What will happen after Greenland’s annexation to the US? Chaos and perhaps another world war. Dictators around the world are laughing and enjoying the show…
Historians in the future will write about this point in time and will say, the war had already started and because of social media and passive consumerism, the vast majority of people did not recognize this – the tech-feudalists and global elite had already taken control of governments and resources around the world via surveillance.
After the Canada/China trade deal, there was crazy hockey game cheering. As if our home team China shutout team USA.
Say the name Trump, and on cue, TDS becomes a euphoric emotion.
That was all it took to tap into an already swelling emotion. No long talks. Just endless loops of TDS from funded MSM to have people accept Canada snuggling up with China.
No longer fear of becoming the 51st state of the USA. Canada, maybe the 24th province of China, but for now the hangover that is fine. No Trump. No power from the USA. Instead, Canada aligned with an authoritarian state under the Chinese Communist Party. Good going, elbows-up crowd.
A few days ago, Italy said no to a sudden request to send troops to Greenland. Germany sent a tiny troop then quickly returned home. Other NATO countries sent 2 to maybe a handful of personnel. Clear Denmark is powerless in defending Greenland.
The Arctic Council gave China observer status in 2013. This allows China to attend Arctic Council meetings, to speak, present, but not to vote.
In 2018, China officially identified as a “near arctic state”.
Books as listed here, talk of China’s ongoing influence across Canada for years, decades…. Canada under siege, The Beaver and the Dragon, Claws of the Panda.
But who cares? As long as Canada spoke in China direct to China’s power in aligning Canada with “Order”… the System. With words carefully crafted for the host and clearly spoken.
This authoritarian “Order” phrase when spoken made many do the Scot Moe eye-pop-out look. And imagine Denmark as well. With images in their minds, questioning if China is on Greenland’s front and backdoor.
Makes Denmark or just Greenland’s sales decisions easier?
This is a rant by a fool. Sound and fury, signifying nothing. “Trump Derangement Syndrome” is the cry of those who know Trump is a mad king, but can’t admit that they were wrong about him. They need to deflect, and blame others, rather than confront the rotten void in the core of their heart. An unserious argument, made by unserious people.
I am grateful we have serious people leading the country. A PM who sees how the world is changing and is doing his best to steer Canada through the storm. Trade deals with China are not perfect, but there are no solutions, only trade offs. No deal can be struck with Trump now because he has shown that agreements, negotiations and norms mean nothing to him, and so new deals must be struck with new nations, who we can trust to keep their word. Trust, but verify. And make new deals if trade partners prove unreliable.