People & Culture

‘Buying countries is Stone Age mentality:’ Inuit speak up on Greenland

Indigenous Greenlanders, who endured centuries of colonialism from Denmark, now face a new threat from Donald Trump’s United States

Jan 12, 2026
1,497 words
6 minutes

By Stewart Burnett

Overlooking the town of Maniitsoq, located in western Greenland. (Photo: Filip Gielda, Visit Greenland/Unsplash)

With U.S. President Donald Trump apparently bent on reshaping the world order in 2026, the threat of a United States takeover of Greenland seems ever more real. Stephen Miller, a top Trump aide, ignited discussions early in the new year when he told CNN the formal position of the White House is that Greenland should be part of the United States. He added that if the U.S. decided to annex Greenland, no one would put up a military defence.

Tupaarnaq Kopeck, a Greenland-born Inuk now living in Canada, fears for her friends and family.

Whether it’s a genuine threat or just political posturing, the threat of an American takeover of Greenland has raised hackles in northern Canada, too. For Canadian Inuit, Greenland is part of a kinship that extends through northern Canada and Alaska to Greenland, northern Europe and Russia. Ways of life, cultures and family ties extend throughout, dating back to well before colonization by Europeans. That identity transcends modern political borders.

Tupaarnaq Kopeck is an Inuk woman originally from Greenland now living in Alberta. When Trump began musing about annexing Greenland after winning a second term in 2024 — even going so far as to send his son to the capital, Nuuk, to drum up MAGA enthusiasm before his inauguration — Kopeck was alarmed.

“For me, it was extra scary because we don’t have a military,” she says. “I know that we are part of Denmark, which is part of NATO, but … to be having a threat from someone that we considered an ally is really scary, and especially someone with such a huge military. We really won’t have a chance.”

Being so far away from her close friends and family in Greenland is difficult, Kopeck says. They’re scared, having never expected their country and way of life to be threatened in this way.

“They’re like, ‘Is that threatened?’” she says. And it’s going backward in terms of reconciliation too. “We are also in the process of healing from 300 years of colonization from Denmark,” says Kopeck. “Right now, we probably need Denmark more than ever.” She says she just hopes other political powers in America can hold Trump’s ambitions at bay.

Jack Anawak, former Nunavut MP and MLA, thinks the United States talk of aggression toward Greenland is a distraction from homegrown controversies, such as the Epstein files.

Cathy Towtongie, twice president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and former Nunavut MLA, says Inuit are united.

Jack Anawak, a former member of Parliament from Nunavut, believes the annexation talk is a political game.

“I think it’s more of a distraction effort because of the Epstein files,” says Anawak, adding the prospect of losing political power in the 2026 midterm elections increases the need for cover. Besides, he says, how would China and Russia — which also have a keen and vested interest in the Arctic — respond to a U.S. acquisition of Greenland? “They’re not going to just say, ‘Yeah, take over,’” he quips. Ultimately, Anawak thinks global pressure will force the U.S. to back off making any such plans a reality.

Manitok Thompson, former Nunavut MLA, is appalled by the treatment of Inuit as geopolitical tools.

Cathy Towtongie from Rankin Inlet, who served two terms as president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and one in the Nunavut legislative assembly, says Trump has no regard for the sovereignty of nations, but Inuit have always been resilient.

“Inuit have family in Canada, they have family in Greenland,” says Towtongie. “From our forefathers, we’ve always been advised to be united as Inuit. That was true before there were boundaries or nations made by colonial powers.”

Towtongie says she’s behind the Kalaallit Inuit of Greenland; under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, they have the right to free, prior and informed consent when it comes to anything that happens on their land. “Without that consent, it’s very arrogant that the United States presumes that land can be for sale.”

Manitok Thompson, Nunavut’s first female cabinet minister, agrees. “What are we … to be bought by anyone like slaves in (the) 1800s? We are so upset with that idea. It’s a paternalistic attitude.”

Inuit in Canada are standing with Greenland, she says. “Buying countries is Stone Age mentality.”

For Nivi Rosing, who studied in Ottawa before becoming Greenland’s current youngest member of parliament, the idea that colonial powers are still trying to gain control over her country is unfathomable.

“We are in 2026,” she says. “We’re so past colonial times. We’re a recognized people. We have our own government, we have our own prime minister, and we are getting ready for our independence.”

Since 2018, during Trump’s first term, Greenland has been vocal about rejecting American influence, she says. “We’re open for cooperation, but on respectful terms. But they don’t seem to respect that.”

Nivi Rosing, Greenland MP, calls on her country’s allies for support.

And in light of Trump kidnapping the president of Venezuela and his wife, all one can do in her eyes is prepare for the worst and hope for the best. If the Venezuelan operation was justified by claims of drug trafficking, Rosing theorizes, she fears claims of Russian and Chinese ships on Greenland’s waters could make for a similar excuse.

Robert Huebert, professor of political science at the University of Calgary, says if Trump takes Greenland, there’s a real possibility Canada is next.

“I’m afraid that he’s just really trying to find a reason to gain control over our country.” If there were foreign ships on the waters, hunters would report it, and people would talk about it, she said. But they wouldn’t be equipped to ward off the invaders.

Asked if any Greenlanders would support American rule, Rosing acknowledges some would. Denmark has not lived up to the promise of equality, she says, and people are tired of that relationship. In her view, Greenland is still oppressed.

“(The Danish government) always threaten us that they will pull the funding, that we’re better off without Denmark if we’re complaining,” says Rosing. “I think there are definitely some people here who would think that the U.S. will come with a better offer, because people are just so tired of not being equal to Denmark in our kingdom.”

For now, Rosing hopes the Canadian government will help protect Greenland’s sovereignty, noting Prime Minister Mark Carney has spoken in defence of it. The prime minister recently announced Canada will open a standalone consulate in Nuuk in early February.

“We need all our allies to vocally support our sovereignty, our sovereign rights as a people, especially as Inuit,” says Rosing. “Colonial times are over, and we are a recognized, sovereign people. I just hope that our ally countries will support us more than ever.”

‘Very real possibility we’re next’

It verges on insanity to hear that the United States is willing to rupture, if not destroy, the NATO alliance to achieve something it already has, says Robert Huebert, a professor of political science at the University of Calgary and expert on Arctic sovereignty and security. But it also reveals how vindictive and authoritarian Trump has become — and that should raise alarm bells for Canada.

“If Trump is serious, if the Americans actually go for Greenland, then we also have to then assume that his threats about annexing Canada have to be equally true,” says Huebert.

People often question political leaders’ rhetoric, he adds, but Trump has so far shown the world that he actually does what he says he’s going to do. “Any actions that Carney takes have to be cognizant of the very real possibility we’re next.”

Referencing the Americans’ new national security strategy, Huebert says it appears the U.S. is turning back to a foreign policy centred on “spheres of influence,” in which the U.S. isn’t all that concerned about what goes on in Europe or Asia, so long as everybody understands the U.S. controls the Western Hemisphere. Trump’s actions in Venezuela and pursuit of Greenland seem to support that direction.

So, what if America does take military action to annex Greenland?

“I suspect that if the Americans move in, [the first reaction] would be shock,” says Huebert. “There would be some saying, ‘Well, nothing we can do about it.’ But there are always those individuals that say, ‘No, I’m taking up arms against this.’ And the moment you start having elements of the Greenlandic government taking up arms, then you would have probably an incredible amount of pressure for the Danes to come to their assistance. And if the Danes do it, the French and the British have already said they will stand with the Danes.”

As Russia and China watch that play out, one would have to go back to the Second World War to find such a geopolitical divide, says Huebert. Asked if Greenland and Canada can simply wait out the Trump term and hope for the best, Huebert cautions that Trump is already restructuring the American government in ways that could make a return to the status quo difficult or even impossible. For much of the past century, Canada’s political leadership hasn’t had to think strategically about defence, assuming the Americans would be there to protect us based on our shared values. But consider how well that approach worked for the ancient city-state of Melos in the Peloponnesian War: the Athenians conquered the city, put all the men to the sword and enslaved the survivors.

That’s not an appetizing viewpoint, Huebert acknowledges, but “when you’re living next to this new version of the United States, I’m afraid it’s something that we have to think about.”

Help us tell Canada’s story

You can support Canadian Geographic in 3 ways:

Donate Subscribe Shop

Kahkiihtwaam ee-pee-kiiweehtataahk: Bringing it back home again

The story of how a critically endangered Indigenous language can be saved

6318 words
26 minutes

People & Culture

With old traditions and new tech, young Inuit chart their changing landscape

For generations, hunting, and the deep connection to the land it creates, has been a mainstay of Inuit culture. As the coastline changes rapidly—reshaping the marine landscape and jeopardizing the hunt—Inuit youth are charting ways to preserve the hunt, and their identity.

5346 words
22 minutes

Mapping

On the map: Examining historic Inuit migration routes between Canada and Greenland

Though Inuit in both countries experienced colonization in different ways, connections across the Arctic remain deeply rooted in shared language, history and identity

359 words
2 minutes

A large female Greenland shark observed near the community of Arctic Bay, Nunavut

Wildlife

Caught on camera: Elusive Greenland sharks

Using cameras baited with squid, researchers were able to gather information about these ancient Arctic fish without taking any out of the water

815 words
4 minutes

‘Buying countries is Stone Age mentality:’ Inuit speak up on Greenland

Related Content

Kahkiihtwaam ee-pee-kiiweehtataahk: Bringing it back home again

With old traditions and new tech, young Inuit chart their changing landscape

On the map: Examining historic Inuit migration routes between Canada and Greenland

Caught on camera: Elusive Greenland sharks