Ever since Donald Trump began his threats to take Greenland, Danish and Greenlandic officials have consistently rejected the idea. To add to this, one local Olympian biathlete is making a stand while performing at the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.
Greenlandic biathlete Ukaleq Slettemark is performing for Denmark at the 2026 Winter Olympics and has made a vow. As noted by the Guardian, she aims to “show people who we are and where we are on the map, and to respond to the US president in his latest attempts to take the territory.
However, Trump is still determined to take control of the island nation for national security reasons, citing the need to counter Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic. He is pushing again, despite being firmly rejected by officials in Greenland and Denmark. It’s like an itch that he cannot scratch and a wish he cannot seem to drop.
In recent protests in Copenhagen, Denmark, the people themselves also made it clear that they don’t want the US to take the semi-autonomous territory. They even used a MAGA hat to say “Make America Go Away.”
Meanwhile, Trump did clarify that he won’t pursue military action to acquire the country. However, he has revealed a framework for an understanding with NATO members in an effort to strengthen security for the Arctic island.
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This week at the 2026 Winter Olympics, more controversy arose after Slettemark joined with Greenland’s sports minister, Nivi Olsen, to give a firm show of sovereignty. While the International Olympic Committee (IOC) currently only recognizes independent sovereign states, Greenland is unable to compete under its own flag.
Due to this, Slettemark is representing Denmark at the sports event. However, this fact hasn’t stopped the athlete from defending her country against the US.
“If there’s only one Greenlandic person everyone knows, I’m happy to defend my country and show people who we are and where we are on the map,” Slettemark said in the Anterselva Biathlon Arena where she stood alongside Olsen.
As for the country’s sports minister, Nivi Olsen, he released a powerful statement during the Games where he branded Donald Trump as “crazy.”
However, the Minister for Sports, Culture and Education for Greenland made an even more powerful statement in the issue.
“Life is very difficult in Greenland. People are afraid. I think that Trump is crazy,” Olsen said. “I know it is a tough thing to say, but you can’t buy people, you can’t buy a country, there are people who live in Greenland, Greenland is our home, so we can’t understand Trump, we can’t understand how he can do what he does.”
“But also we have hope. I can see the hope in people. And we stand together. And we fight together for our country. Honestly, I feel like everything that happened has brought us all closer together, especially from the Danish side,” he added.
“We feel a lot more support. We feel people are getting more educated about Greenland and are actually interested in the wellbeing of Greenlanders. And also they are starting to see that Greenland is really very important strategically.”
Meanwhile, Ukaleq and her brother, Sondre Slettemark, are the only two athletes from the Arctic island competing at the Games. Ukaleq, 24, is a former Youth World Champion, and she finished 52 nd in the women’s 15 km event in Italy this week.
The Slettemarks are clearly a strong sporting family as Sondre, 21, her younger brother made his Olympic debut this week after a strong showing at the 2025 World Championships, where he finished 69th in the individual race.
The brother and sister duo were both born in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, but trained extensively in Norway to achieve the elite levels of their sport at the OIympics. Their sport includes cross-country skiing and rifle shooting, where the athletes ski a course, while periodically stopping to shoot at targets.
