Greenland in focus: Monocle’s trip to Nuuk in pictures
Our team arrived in Nuuk on 19 January, as tensions between the US and its Nato allies reached seismic levels. Here’s a selection of images from their five days in the Greenland capital.
For two weeks, Greenland, an Arctic island with a population of some 57,000, was at the centre of the world’s attention. US president Donald Trump had been making veiled threats towards the Danish autonomous territory for years but since his return to the White House in January 2025, his statements had become more pronounced and frequent. A few weeks into 2026, Trump’s rhetoric turned bellicose, with allusions made to taking Greenland by force. Had the president’s ambitions been fulfilled, the world’s largest military alliance would have ruptured, given that the US, Denmark and Greenland are all members of Nato.
When Monocle’s four-man team arrived in Nuuk, several European countries had dispatched troops to Greenland mere days prior. Though small in number, this was a move intended to assuage Trump’s concerns over claims of Chinese and Russian forces endangering the island. The plan, however, backfired, further provoking his ire. The small town (with a population of approximately 20,000) was teeming with international media, Many of them were camera crews, filming live hits against snowy backdrops and buttonholing local residents. Our team was there to report on the geopolitical situation, producing three live episodes of The Monocle Daily and one of The Foreign Desk, as well as three written dispatches.
But we also wanted to tell the story that was right under everyone’s noses yet largely overlooked: that of this beautiful place and its people. So, throughout those live programmes and podcasts, you can hear interviews with ordinary Greenlanders sharing their concerns about their security, yes, but also insight into their lives, on the island’s rich and ancient culture, its burgeoning tourism industry and its many exciting businesses and organisations.
For more of our coverage on the Greenland crisis, read here:
– ‘Greenland chooses the Greenland we know today, as part of the Kingdom of Denmark.’ The country’s prime minister responds to Trump
– Touching down in Nuuk, ground zero for the world’s most absurd crisis
– ‘I would feel safer to stay with Denmark’: Has the Greenland crisis brought the territory closer to Copenhagen?
