The Daily Populous Tuesday January 20th, 2026 night edition
Authored by cbc.ca and submitted by ubcstaffer123

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.

U.S. President Donald Trump says his country needs Greenland for national security. That has Greenlanders worried about their own national security.

Inuit advocacy groups, as well as Greenlanders who live in Canada, are emphatically opposed to American designs on their homeland. And, they say, they're tired of being used as geopolitical chess pieces by powerful people in faraway capitals.

"We want to say loud and clear that there's no such thing as a better colonizer," said Sara Olsvig, chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and a former member of both the Greenlandic and Danish parliaments.

"We have already been through colonization and we know what it means when the interests of others and more powerful nations and peoples affects us negatively and when decisions are taken thousands of kilometres away from us."

Trump's desire to control Greenland, whether though purchase, diplomacy or some kind of military action, appears to wholly disregard the fact that Greenlanders overwhelmingly do not want to be Americans, according to a recent poll from the Verian Group. Most also don't want to be Danes, according to the same poll.

Olsvig said even though Inuit want more self-determination, they also want to see strong international forums such as the Arctic Council.

"We've been able to work together based on mutual respect. We've been able to maintain a zone of peace in the Arctic even through difficult times before," she said. "And I think it lies upon every leader who has something to say in the Arctic to stand strong on those values, on on calling for diplomacy to work."

Laakkuluk Williamson, an Iqaluit resident who's Greenlandic on her mother's side of the family, said she fears Greenland becoming the Arctic equivalent of American Samoa or Puerto Rico: U.S. overseas territories where residents lack constitutional protections and representation in Congress.

'It's very scary. It's very worrisome. It's terrifying, in fact,' says Laakkuluk Williamson, and Iqaluit resident with Greenlandic roots. (CBC)

Williamson, who still has family in Greenland, said the U.S. capture and arrest of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro served as a wakeup call. She said Greenland, with a population of 56,000, would have little ability to resist an American takeover.

"The ability for [Trump] to annex the entire island is not far-fetched," she said.

"It's very scary. It's very worrisome. It's terrifying, in fact. I worry about the safety of my family. What are they supposed to do? What are the plans to make sure Inuit are safe in their own homeland?"

LISTEN | Frontburner: Front Burner 28:25 What if Greenland’s next? Right now, the future of Greenland hangs in the balance. And with it, an entire system of military and political alliances that has underpinned the global order since the end of the Second World War. So when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he’s going to meet with Danish leaders to talk about Greenland this week, that’s what diplomats, historians and politicians the world over say is at stake. This could have massive implications for Canada, both as a NATO member and target of Trump’s expansionist appetites. Casey Michel joins us. He’s a journalist and author of the upcoming book ‘United States of Oligarchy’. He recently wrote a piece for Foreign Policy titled “Annexing Greenland would be a Strategic Catastrophe.”

Aaju Peter, a lawyer who was born in Greenland and moved to Iqaluit in the 1980s, agrees there's little Greenland could do if the U.S. is determined to use force. But she said Trump's threats flout both international law and the Inuit right to self-determination.

Aaju Peter is a lawyer who was born in Greenland and moved to Iqaluit in the 1980s. (CBC)

"Greenlandic leaders and the population are willing to talk with the president, or with the administration in the White House, diplomatically, with respect ... that the Greenlandic Inuit are sovereign and they can make their own decisions," she said.

Trump has said if the United States doesn't absorb Greenland, Russia or China would. China this week rejected that claim, as did officials from Greenland, Denmark and the United States.

"There is no imminent threat to Greenland from the Chinese and the Russians," said Sen. Chris Coons, a Democratic member of an American congressional delegation headed to Copenhagen for meetings with Danish officials scheduled for later this week.

The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland will meet U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House on Wednesday.

Juract on January 19th, 2026 at 20:56 UTC »

One point on the Danish rule of Greenland is that Greenland currently enjoys a vast autonomy from Copenhagen.

They have local parliament, PM, manage their own business in a vast domain of competence, including a local criminal law.

Only sovereignty powers are kept by Danemark. Matters about nationality, currency, border control, the army and the police.

What would you think will remain of that autonomy when America takes over?

RedditAtWorkIsBad on January 19th, 2026 at 20:37 UTC »

Historically maybe they would have preferred independence than being part of Denmark. The extent that they are discontent with Denmark would be dwarfed by orders of magnitude being under the US heel.

No doubt this makes them that much more grateful to have Denmark and the greater EU to depend on.

NoSwordfish1978 on January 19th, 2026 at 20:01 UTC »

Given how the US treats its colonies (sorry "unincorporated territories") I'm not suprised they don't want to become part of America. It really would be a case of going from the frying pan to the fire.