Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland's prime minister, during a press conference in Nuuk, Greenland's capital city, on January 5, 2026. OSCAR SCOTT CARL/RITZAU SCANPIX/AFP
What can the prime minister of an island country, one which, while four times the size of France, is 80% covered in ice and home to only 56,000 people, do when faced with the overwhelming power of the White House and its sitting president, who has little regard for international law? For those who wonder why the United States would need to annex Greenland, when they can already deploy soldiers there or exploit its natural resources, Donald Trump offered an explanation on Thursday, January 8, in an interview with The New York Times: The billionaire said he wants the autonomous Danish territory as he felt it was "psychologically needed."
In Nuuk, Greenlandic centre-right Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, 34, has repeatedly stressed that his country, the world's largest island, was not "Venezuela," but "a democratic country" and "a NATO member," one whose people do not want to be either bought out or conquered. Yet, however important this clarification may be, it seemed to have no effect on Washington. Quite the contrary, in fact, as the scenario of Greenland's annexation by force, which had previously been dismissed by both Nuuk and Copenhagen, was now being taken very seriously.
