Recentering the Debate over ‘Greenland’ Begins with Calling Kalaallit Nunaat by Its Actual Name
MEDIA, 26 Jan 2026
Jim Naureckas | FAIR-Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting - TRANSCEND Media Service
21 Jan 2026 – Kalaallit Nunaat is the name of the country that Donald Trump is salivating over, according to the people who live there. The place that US media call Greenland is an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark, with the right to secede by holding a referendum.
In a rare example of treating the Inuit of Kalaallit Nunaat as real people rather than pieces in a board game, the New York Times (1/14/26) sent two reporters to the island’s capital of Nuuk to ask them what they thought. The Times‘ Jeffrey Gettleman and Maya Tekeli found next to no interest in becoming part of the United States; sources told them they were well aware of the United States’ record of mistreating its Indigenous residents, and further that they had little interest in trading Danish socialized medicine for America’s profit-based healthcare. “We’re not stupid,” the article summed up the Inuit’s message to Trump.
New York Times (1/14/26): “Greenlanders are trying to insert themselves into the discussions about their future before it’s too late.”
A similar piece by AP reporter Emma Burrows (reposted by PBS, 1/16/26) found the people of Kalaallit Nunaat similarly rejecting the “business trade” that Trump was reducing their nation to. Opposition lawmaker Juno Berthelsen stressed that “Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people,” and called for “making sure that the Greenlandic people are the ones who are at the very center of this conversation.”
An article from Al Jazeera (1/18/26) covered not just local opinion, but the island’s political mobilizing against Trump’s demands for annexation: “Thousands March in Greenland Against Trump’s Threats to Take It Over.”
The message reporters get when they actually talk to the nation’s citizens is that Kalaallit Nunaat is not a piece of property to be sold or swapped; it’s a nation of people with the right to self-determination, and they will never become part of the United States, barring the exceedingly unlikely event that they determine that they want to be.
CNN (1/19/26): “Trump has been consistent that the only way to truly reap Greenland’s benefits is to own it outright.”
‘Is an off-ramp possible?’
But the Kalaallit (as the nation’s main Inuit community is called) are so far from the center as to be entirely absent from most US news reporting, which treats Trump’s demand for the island as a conflict between the United States and Europe. Media present Trump’s childish imperial fantasies—he may have been impressed by the distorted size of the island on a Mercator map (Salon, 1/18/26)—as grave matters of global strategy, in pieces like “US Needs Greenland for ‘International Security,’ Says President Trump” (Yahoo, 3/28/25), “Why Trump Wants Greenland—Why the White House Thinks It’s So Important for National Security” (CNBC, 1/7/26), “Energy Secretary Chris Wright Says Trump Wants Greenland for Long-Term National Security” (CBS, 1/20/26) and “The Great Race for the Arctic: Why Russia, China and the US All Have It in Their Sights” (CNN, 1/21/26).
Such pieces treat US annexation of Kalaallit Nunaat as an open question—”Trump Makes Case for US Acquiring Greenland to Davos Leaders,” reported The Hill (1/21/26)—or even a fait accompli, as in the CNN headline (1/19/26): “Even Some Trump Advisers Are Wary of a Military Pursuit of Greenland. Is an Off-Ramp Possible?” Maybe not, is the implication.
As with many pieces written about this Trump-created crisis, that CNN article talks a lot about the United States, Europeans, even the Chinese—but nothing at all about the people of Kalaallit Nunaat.
Tags: Denmark, Greenland, Kalaallit Nunaat, Media, Scandinavia, Sovereignty, Trump
DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. “GO TO ORIGINAL” links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the “GO TO ORIGINAL” links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Join the discussion!
We welcome debate and dissent, but personal — ad hominem — attacks (on authors, other users or any individual), abuse and defamatory language will not be tolerated. Nor will we tolerate attempts to deliberately disrupt discussions. We aim to maintain an inviting space to focus on intelligent interactions and debates.