President Donald Trump sparked global debate when he announced his plans to take over Greenland. His claims of wanting to acquire the country for National Security were quickly met by resistance across the country. Earlier this week, residents of Nuuk (Greenland’s capital) staged protests urging the U.S. to abandon its takeover plans.
Before protests could break out, a renowned author and political commentator, Michael Wolff, had made a prediction. On his Inside Trump’s Head podcast with The Daily Beast, Wolff explained the real reason for not taking over Greenland to Joanna Coles.
Donald Trump backed down from his demand to acquire Greenland because he just cares about the drama and attention it has brought him, his biographer says.https://t.co/424RhWqAzZ
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) January 23, 2026
The podcast co-host recalled the moment when the world went into a “paroxysm,” which is an outburst of emotions, after Trump’s late-night Truth Social posts.
The POTUS had been repeatedly posting on social media about his plan to take over Greenland for the aforementioned reasons. On January 21, 2026, Trump revealed a conversation he had with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte at a Swiss Alpine Resort. The POTUS revealed negotiating a deal for the betterment of both Greenland and America.
Wolff explained the reason for Trump’s decision to switch from an alleged hostile takeover to a peaceful solution. It was an ‘I told you so’ moment for Wolff because earlier this month, the author claimed that Trump’s threats to take over the country and implement the tariffs were “meaningless.”
Wolff said, “This is a new Trump chapter…He’s going to squeeze it for all of the attention he can get.” Wolff and Coles both agreed that this was reportedly Trump’s classic distraction technique.
U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT UNDER FIRE FOR REMOVING TRUMP IMAGE FROM EPSTEIN FILES
This photo, file 468, from the Epstein files that includes Donald Trump has apparently now been removed from the DOJ release pic.twitter.com/IcQ00m4JyP
— CHItrader (@CHItraders) December 21, 2025
With many of the Epstein files yet to be released, the backlash against ICE, and growing protests in the wake of Renee Good’s shooting in Minneapolis, the podcast hosts claim Trump dropped the Greenland bombshell as a distraction.
Wolff acknowledged Trump’s distractions but claimed they have value to them and said, “He just wants attention; he is one more day at the center of the world.” Wolff recalled a conversation about Greenland he had with one of Trump’s political aides. Wolff also pointed out that the people close to Trump weren’t “blind” to the MAGA leader’s goals and personality.
The author explained the aide’s comment with an analogy of a fire engine rushing to put out a fire. In this case, the “fake fire” Trump created was the Greenland takeover and the tariffs. The fire engine was the deal he talked through with NATO’s General Secretary.
Wolff quoted the aide and said, “He (Trump) sets these fires constantly, but it’s really not the fire that he focuses on.” The author added, “What he focuses on is the fire engines rushing to put the fire out.”
President Donald Trump has changed his stance on acquiring Greenland as a US territory, saying he reached a “framework” deal with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. He also announced, in a post on Truth Social, that he would no longer impose tariffs on European countries that had…
— The Revived Spirit Ambassador (@mrameen83) January 22, 2026
In the aftermath of Wolff’s comments about the POTUS, the Trump administration slammed Wolff’s remarks in a statement. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, speaking to The Daily Beast exclusively, said, “He (Wolff) routinely fabricates stories from his sick and warped imagination.”
About the productive deal Trump had, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly revealed that once both parties have discussed things thoroughly, full details will be released publicly. Until then, the Trump administration is keeping things under wraps.
