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I am Danish, my grandmother was Greenlandic. My relatives are in turmoil over Trump’s Greenland plans. But something positive can be drawn from it.
January 21, 2026, 05:19January 21, 2026, 05:19
Yannick Nock / ch media
The television is on almost constantly for my relatives in Copenhagen – like in almost the whole country. Special programs flicker across the screen, push notifications flood cell phones, and conversations in coffee shops revolve around this. It’s a news situation like the one we had in Switzerland at the beginning of the year because of Crans-Montana. In Denmark it’s because of Donald Trump.
Protests against Trump’s Greenland plans in the capital Nuuk.Image: keystone
I am Danish, my grandmother was Greenlandic. I can’t remember a political event that has ever bothered my family as much as Donald Trump’s threat to take Greenland by force if necessary.
Thousands of people are demonstrating against Trump’s plans in Copenhagen, as well as in other Danish cities and in Greenland’s capital Nuuk. The messages are clear: “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders,” “Hands off Greenland.” And yet the determination is mixed with a deep perplexity.
How do you deal with a US president who openly threatens violence? Is he serious? Analysts, politicians and citizens have their say in the media. My mother, half Danish, half Greenlander, was also asked by Radio DR – the Danish SRF, so to speak – for her assessment. The honest answer is: Nobody knows what will happen next.
If you want to take something positive from Trump’s threats, it would be this: Danes and Greenlanders have rarely felt closer to each other than these days. The connection is stronger than perhaps ever before. This is remarkable – because our shared history is burdened. As a colonial power, Denmark made many mistakes. Greenlanders were degraded, discriminated against, made into second-class citizens. My mother was also insulted on the streets of Copenhagen in the 1970s because of her origins.
US President Donald Trump wants Greenland.Image: keystone
The nervousness is great
With the introduction of “Selvstyre” (self-government) in 2009, many things got better. Also because of the high block subsidies that Denmark transfers to the Greenlanders. But the pain runs deep: “The Danes had their chance. And they only began to be friendly to us when they had almost lost us,” the NZZ quotes a Greenlandic father as representative. Nevertheless, one thing is clear: Nobody wants a colonial power 2.0. Nor does the minority who view Denmark critically.
And here lies the inconvenient truth that Trump reveals. Denmark should have taken Greenland more seriously, not only for moral reasons but also for strategic reasons. In the geopolitical triangle between the USA, China and Russia, the world’s largest island is of enormous importance. This reality was apparently underestimated in Copenhagen for a long time. Now the nervousness is great. It is not only evident in the Danish Foreign Minister, who, after a meeting, rushes to his official car in front of the White House to light a cigarette, almost trembling.
A large part of Denmark’s foreign and security policy importance depends on Greenland. Without the island, the country loses geopolitical weight – and part of its identity. Trump is now forcing the Danes to face this dependence. As early as 2019, during his first term in office, he wanted to buy Greenland. There was laughter back then. Late-night hosts traveled to the island, and the absurd plan became a punchline. Good television with lots of laughs.
Today the television is running again in all households. But this time no one is laughing anymore. (aargauerzeitung.ch)