Thousands march in Copenhagen against Trump's Greenland acquisition push

Thousands of people marched from Copenhagen City Hall to the U.S. embassy on January 17, 2026, waving Greenlandic flags and chanting a simple message: "Greenland is not for sale."

The demonstration was a response to President Trump's repeated public statements that the U.S. should acquire Greenland for national security reasons. "One way or the other, we're going to have Greenland," he told reporters recently aboard Air Force One. Some protesters wore red hats riffing on Trump's campaign slogan, rebranded to read "Make America go away."

What the protesters said

Peder Dam, a Danish resident, carried a sign featuring Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker from Star Wars with the message: "Americans: I know there is good in you. Come back to sanity." He told NPR he understands that Trump doesn't represent all Americans, but he's puzzled why more ordinary citizens aren't protesting back home. "If my government said they would attack Sweden, then Denmark would step up and protest that," he said. "Why aren't there more normal, average Americans stepping up?"

Thomas, another marcher who asked to be identified by first name only due to workplace concerns, described the demonstration as representing "an unseen level of resentment towards the U.S." He pointed to shared military history—Danish troops fighting alongside Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan—as reason for feeling betrayed. "I don't think it's going to happen, but we don't know," he said of the acquisition threat. "And that's creating an unprecedented level of emotional uncertainty and political uncertainty."

Naja Mathilde Rosing, whose family is from Greenland, framed the issue in terms of indigenous sovereignty. She rejected Trump's claims that Russia and China are encircling Greenland, calling it a red herring. More fundamentally, she said the very idea of purchasing a country and its people is offensive to indigenous communities. "America has a sense of feeling they can steal land from the Native Americans, steal land from the indigenous Hawaiian people, steal land from the indigenous Inuit from Alaska," she said. "You cannot buy Greenland, you cannot buy a people."

Charlotte Holm, who has family in Greenland, described the fear rippling through communities there about what might happen next. She called on the U.S. to "leave them alone" and warned of broader consequences. "It's going to reshape fundamentally the world order if he does. NATO's going to implode," she said—a concern echoed by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

The U.S. already maintains a military presence on the island, including the strategic Pituffik Space base. But for many in Denmark and Greenland, Trump's repeated public interest in acquiring the territory represents something new: an explicit challenge to the established order of NATO allies and territorial sovereignty.

As the uncertainty persists, protesters are hoping the message travels back across the Atlantic—not as a warning, but as a reminder of what's at stake.