On Tuesday, Donald Trump posted a series of messages on Truth Social suggesting that Greenland and Canada were now part of the United States, turning what was once brushed off as bluster into a fresh geopolitical flashpoint.
The post also featured the US President seated inside the Oval Office alongside several Nato leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, among others.
In a separate Truth Social post, Trump appeared alongside Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with the trio shown hoisting a US flag in Greenland. A sign placed nearby read: “Greenland, US territory, EST. 2026.”
Behind the theatrics lies a strategic calculation that Washington has long acknowledged.
Greenland is a linchpin in the US ballistic missile defence architecture. The US continues to operate the Pittufik Space Base, formerly known as Thule, which provides early-warning capabilities for missiles travelling across the North Pole.
There is also the question of what lies beneath the ice. Climate change is making Greenland’s vast deposits of rare earth reserves more accessible, and Trump has argued that securing those resources would reduce US dependence on China, which dominates the global supply chain.
Online, the response was far less restrained.
One user called Trump’s apparent ambition to secure both Greenland and a Nobel Prize a “Toddler Tantrum,” adding that it looked “so desperate.”
Another wrote: “Drop a rumor about Epstein files in Greenland and watch Trump suddenly remember how to back off.”
As officials in Europe weigh their response, social media has already delivered its verdict.
In the race for Greenland, meme-makers appear to have captured the territory without firing a single shot.