President Donald Trump has once again stirred controversy over Greenland with a dramatic social media post featuring an AI-generated image of himself towering over the Arctic island. The image, shared on Friday evening, showed Trump peering over Greenland's mountains and colorful villages beneath the words: 'Hello, Greenland!'
Protests Erupt in Nuuk
The post came just hours after US Special Envoy to Greenland, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, faced furious protesters upon arriving to open a new American consulate. On Thursday, more than 500 Greenlanders marched through the capital Nuuk, waving red-and-white Greenlandic flags and holding signs reading 'Go Home USA,' 'Make America Go Away!' and 'We are not for sale.'
Protesters turned their backs on the US consulate building and observed two minutes of silence in a symbolic rebuke of Washington's growing presence. 'Greenland belongs to us. It's our country. It doesn't belong to Denmark or the United States. We are a people and we live here,' said resident Grethe Kramer Berthelsen. Organizer Aqqalukkuluk Fontain added: 'Our government already told Donald Trump and his administration that Greenland is not for sale.'
US Envoy's Controversial Visit
Landry's arrival sparked controversy after Greenlandic officials revealed he had not been formally invited. During the trip, he argued that the US needs to expand its presence in Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory Trump has long described as essential to national security. 'I think it's time for the US to put its footprint back on Greenland,' Landry said. 'Greenland needs the US.'
Trump has repeatedly stressed Greenland's strategic importance, sitting on the shortest missile route between Russia and the US and containing vast rare-earth mineral reserves. Melting Arctic ice is also opening new shipping lanes. During the Cold War, the US maintained 17 military facilities across Greenland; now only Pituffik Space Base remains operational.
US Northern Command is studying infrastructure improvements at Pituffik, with discussions possibly including new activity at Narsarsuaq and Kangerlussuaq. The Trump administration insists the effort is about security and cooperation, not conquest. At the consulate inauguration, US Ambassador to Denmark Kenneth Howery described the Arctic as 'a region of global importance' and said Trump had ruled out using military force, emphasizing that Greenlanders would determine their future.
Local Skepticism
Many residents remain skeptical. The new 3,000 square meter consulate has been nicknamed 'Trump Towers' by some locals. Greenlandic leaders distanced themselves from the opening ceremony; Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen declined to attend, and several senior politicians avoided it. Landry deepened the storm by encouraging discussion of independence from Denmark, saying, 'There are some incredible opportunities that can actually lift Greenlanders from dependency to independence.' When asked about respecting sovereignty, he replied: 'There is only one line for us. It is red, white and blue.'
