Trump’s push to acquire Greenland sparks international media frenzy on remote island
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As President Donald Trump intensifies his push to acquire Greenland, an influx of international journalists has descended upon the island, eager to gauge the sentiment of its political leaders and residents.

In recent weeks, media outlets from across the globe—including The Associated Press, Reuters, the BBC, and Al Jazeera, along with journalists from Scandinavian nations and Japan—have converged on this semi-autonomous Danish territory. Their presence has inundated local politicians and community figures with a deluge of interview requests.

Trump has justified his interest in the sprawling 800,000-square-mile island by citing national security concerns. However, Greenland’s leaders have consistently maintained that the territory is not up for sale.

Juno Berthelsen, a parliament member from the Naleraq opposition party, noted that the media frenzy began last year when Trump initially floated the idea of purchasing Greenland. Since then, he has been fielding multiple interviews daily over the past two weeks.

journalist interview in Greenland

In a recent scene from Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, a journalist was seen conducting an interview on January 15, illustrating the sustained global interest in the island’s response to Trump’s overtures. (AP Photo/Emma Burrows)

“We’re very few people and people tend to get tired when more and more journalists ask the same questions again and again,” Berthelsen told the Associated Press.

Greenland’s population is about 57,000 people, with roughly 20,000 living in Nuuk, the small capital city where the same collection of business owners are repeatedly asked to do news interviews, sometimes as many as 15 a day.

Many residents interviewed by the AP said they want the world to know that Greenlanders will decide their own future and expressed confusion about why Trump wants to control the island.

journalist in Greenland

Residents and officials in Nuuk face growing media attention as President Trump renews efforts to acquire the strategically located island. (AP Photo/Emma Burrows)

“It’s just weird how obsessed [Trump] is with Greenland,” Maya Martinsen, 21, told the AP.

She said Trump is “basically lying about what he wants out of Greenland,” asserting that the president is using U.S. national security as a means to take control of “the oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”

The Americans, Martinsen continued, “only see what they can get out of Greenland and not what it actually is.”

Homes in Nuuk, Greenland

Rows of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, on Jan. 13, 2026. (Marko Djurica/Reuters)

“It has beautiful nature and lovely people. It’s just home to me. I think the Americans just see some kind of business trade,” she added.

Americans, however, appear ambivalent about the acquisition, with 86% of voters nationwide saying they would oppose military action to take over Greenland, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. By a 55%-37% margin, voters surveyed said they opposed any U.S. effort to try to buy Greenland.

On Wednesday, Trump said in a social media post that “anything less” than U.S. control of Greenland is “unacceptable,” but Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said during a news conference this week that the island will not be owned or governed by the United States.

Trump’s recent comments have sparked tension with Denmark and other NATO allies, and troops from several European countries, including France, Germany, Sweden and Norway, deployed to Greenland this week for a brief two-day mission to bolster the territory’s defenses. 

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