Protesters wave Greenlandic flags as they take part in a rally under the slogans “Hands off Greenland” and “Greenland for the Greenlanders” in front of City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 17, 2026.
EMIL HELMS/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima/AFP
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EMIL HELMS/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima/AFP
COPENHAGEN – Thousands of people marched Saturday afternoon from Copenhagen City Hall to the U.S. Embassy to protest President Trump’s comments that he wants to acquire Greenland.
The crowd, waving Greenlandic flags, chanted “Greenland is not for sale.” Many protesters wore red, Trump-style “Make America great Again” hats that read, “Make America go away.”
Trump continued to support the idea of acquiring Greenland, which he said the United States needs for national security purposes. United States already has a military presence on the island.
“One way or another, we’re going to have Greenland,” Trump recently told reporters on Air Force One.
Saturday’s protest took place just after a bipartisan congressional delegation traveled to Copenhagen. Lawmakers from the House and Senate met with Danish and Greenlandic officials, as well as members of the Danish business community. The visit was intended as a tour of reassurance – affirming the long-standing relationship between the United States and the Kingdom of Denmark in the face of Trump’s rhetoric.
Peder Dam, who lives in Denmark, attended the protest with a sign depicting an image of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker from Star Wars which said: “Americans: I know there is good in you. Come to your senses.”
“We know that what’s happening at the White House is not representative of all Americans,” he told NPR.
Peder Dam attended the demonstration alongside his son Gorm. They each carried signs: one with a caricature of Trump walking on leggos with a caption that read: “Denmark is small, but we fight with what we have”; and another with an image of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker from Star Wars which said: “Americans: I know there is good in you. Come to your senses.”
Barbara Sprunt, NPR
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Barbara Sprunt, NPR
But he wonders why there isn’t more widespread outrage from the American public.
“I can’t understand. If my government said it would attack Sweden, then Denmark would intensify its protests,” he said. “I love the protests in the United States. But why aren’t more normal, average Americans stepping up to protest what’s happening? It’s crazy.”
Another protester, Thomas, whom NPR identifies only by his first name due to fears of workplace retaliation, said the march represented “an unprecedented level of resentment toward the United States.”
“I cannot express how deeply disappointed I am: we sent our troops to die with you in Iraq, we were with you in Afghanistan,” he said. “How dare you turn your back on us like that?”
He said that while he thought Americans might not believe that Trump would actually invade Greenland, it was a skepticism that people in the Kingdom of Denmark could not afford.
“I don’t think it’s going to happen, but we don’t know,” he said. “And that’s creating an unprecedented level of emotional uncertainty and political uncertainty.”
One protester held up a sign reading: “Trump: Your megalomaniacal legacy needs a psychiatrist, not Greenland.” Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Copenhagen on Saturday to protest Trump’s rhetoric regarding the United States’ proposed acquisition of Greenland.
Barbara Sprunt, NPR
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Barbara Sprunt, NPR
Naja Mathilde Rosing said the march was extremely personal. She and her family are originally from Greenland.
“We’re here to show solidarity, that we don’t want to be part of the United States,” she told NPR. “We are strong as we are, and we want nothing to do with America.”
She rejected Trump’s claims that Russia and China were encircling Greenland, saying it was a red herring. The US congressional delegation told reporters that there is no intelligence to suggest that either.
Rosing said the whole idea of buying Greenland is offensive to indigenous communities, who she said respect the land and don’t view it as something you can own.
“America feels like it can steal land from Native Americans, from Native Hawaiians, from Alaskan Inuit,” she said. “You can’t buy Greenland, you can’t buy a people. It’s wrong and disrespectful to think you can buy a country and a people.”
Charlotte Holm lives in Copenhagen but has family in Greenland.
“They’re so scared,” she said. “They are afraid because they don’t know what will happen to their society.”
She said the message to the United States is simple: “Leave them alone. Focus on the Epstein files, focus on the midterm elections. »
She said she hoped Trump would “become obsessed with other things” but worries about the ripple effects of possible U.S. encroachment in Greenland.
“If he does, it will fundamentally reshape the world order. NATO will implode,” she said. echoing similar comments from the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. “We need American citizens to call their Republican representatives and tell them we need to take care of NATO, because if we cross that line there will be no going back. You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.”
Source | domain www.npr.org
