Published January 18, 2026
Thousands of Greenlanders marched against US President Donald Trump. They held protest placards, waved national flags, chanted “Greenland is not for sale” and defended their right to autonomy amid growing fears of a U.S. takeover.
As they finished marching Saturday from the small city center of Greenland’s capital Nuuk to the U.S. consulate, news broke that President Trump, speaking from his home in Florida, announced a 10% import tax on products from eight European countries starting in February in retaliation for opposition to U.S. control of the Arctic island.
President Trump has long argued that the United States should own the strategically located, mineral-rich island, an autonomous Danish territory. He reinforced his calls a day after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was ousted and abducted in a U.S. military operation earlier this month.
In Nuuk, Greenlanders of all ages listened to traditional songs as they walked to the consulate.
Former Greenlandic lawmaker Tilly Martinussen said she hoped the Trump administration would “abandon this crazy idea.”
“They started by promoting themselves as our friends and allies, saying they wanted to make Greenland better for us than the Danes,” she said as chants blared in the background. “And now they are openly threatening us.”
He said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the fight to maintain Greenland’s autonomy outweigh concerns about tariffs, but stressed he was not ruling out the potential economic impact.
“This is a fight for freedom,” she said. “It’s for NATO, it’s for everything the Western Hemisphere has fought for since World War II.”
