A small Nordic travel company is planning a “solidarity” flotilla to Greenland this summer, positioning the unusual voyage as a symbolic rebuke to President Donald Trump’s escalating campaign to bring the vast Arctic island under formal U.S. control.

The proposed cruise, marketed as part protest, part polar adventure, will sail from northern Europe to Greenland’s fjords and coastal settlements just as diplomatic tensions over the future of the territory reach their highest point in decades.

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A protest at sea as annexation talk intensifies

The flotilla concept emerged in recent weeks, organizers say, as Trump sharpened his rhetoric on Greenland, reviving his earlier idea of purchasing the island and going further by insisting the United States must “own” it outright.

In a series of comments since early 2025 and in a January 7, 2026 interview, Trump has repeatedly framed Greenland as a strategic prize that Washington should secure “one way or the other,” even entertaining the notion of using military force if negotiations fail.

Those remarks have alarmed political leaders in Nuuk and Copenhagen, who stress that Greenland is a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark and that its status cannot be changed without the consent of Greenlanders themselves.

Greenland’s government on January 12 reiterated that it “cannot under any circumstances accept” a U.S. takeover and called instead for its defense arrangements to be reinforced through NATO, not determined unilaterally by a single ally.

It is against this backdrop that a Scandinavian-based adventure operator, positioning itself as a champion of “ethical Arctic travel,” is assembling a flotilla of expedition vessels and private yachts under the banner “Solidarity with Greenland.”

While the company has yet to publish a full manifest, it says the voyage aims to give travelers a chance to meet local communities, learn about Greenlandic culture and climate vulnerability, and “stand visibly against any attempt to reduce the island to a bargaining chip.”

From quirky idea to geopolitical flashpoint

Trump’s interest in Greenland first exploded into public view in August 2019, when U.S. media reported that he had repeatedly asked advisers about buying the territory from Denmark. The notion was widely ridiculed in Copenhagen and Nuuk. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the idea “absurd,” while Greenlandic officials stressed that the island was “open for business, but not for sale.” Trump responded by canceling a planned state visit to Denmark, triggering a brief diplomatic chill but little concrete change on the ground.

That episode, initially treated as an oddity of Trump-era diplomacy, has since evolved into a sustained policy agenda during his second term. In a March 4, 2025 address to Congress, Trump declared that “one way or the other, we are going to get Greenland,” casting the objective as essential to countering Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic. A succession of allied and European officials have since pushed back, warning that any forced change in Greenland’s status would violate international law and destabilize NATO.

In Washington, allies of the president in Congress have gone so far as to introduce legislation designed to facilitate an eventual acquisition. A 2025 bill dubbed the Red, White, and Blueland Act proposed empowering the administration to “purchase or otherwise acquire” Greenland and even rename it, underscoring how the once-theoretical idea has become embedded in parts of the U.S. political debate. Greenlandic leaders across the spectrum, meanwhile, have issued repeated joint statements insisting that their future must be decided in Nuuk, not in Washington.

Travel firm positions tourism as soft-power counterweight

The company behind the planned flotilla, a mid-sized Arctic specialist with offices in Scandinavia and Germany, argues that tourism can serve as a subtle but potent counterweight to saber-rattling from larger powers. Its managing director, speaking to European media, described the journey as “a floating town hall,” where passengers, Greenlandic guides, and invited researchers will discuss self-determination, climate science, and the ethics of polar travel.

Marketing materials sent to trade partners highlight three intertwined themes: solidarity with Greenland’s right to decide its own future, support for local businesses, and education about the rapidly changing Arctic environment. Rather than a traditional cruise where passengers rarely step beyond tightly scripted excursions, the company says it intends to foreground community visits, lectures by Greenlandic scholars, and shipboard forums on indigenous rights.

Industry analysts note that the move is also commercially savvy. Since Trump first floated the idea of buying Greenland in 2019, interest in visiting the island has tended to spike whenever the story returns to the headlines. Real-estate agents, tour operators, and the country’s tourism board all reported surges in global curiosity in the months after that initial controversy. By harnessing the current news cycle, the flotilla organizer is likely to fill cabins with travelers drawn by a mix of political engagement and polar scenery.

Greenlandic voices welcome visitors, reject “land grab”

Reaction in Greenland to the flotilla plan appears cautiously positive, according to local commentators. While some politicians remain wary of being used as a backdrop for foreign political theater, others see an opportunity to turn global attention toward Greenland’s own priorities. Those range from greater economic diversification and infrastructure development to a long-running debate over eventual independence from Denmark.

Successive Greenlandic governments have emphasized that outside interest must translate into concrete benefits on the ground. That includes jobs for local guides and hospitality workers, partnerships on education and research, and investment in ports and airports that serve residents year-round, not just high-paying visitors. The travel firm says it is working with community representatives in several coastal towns to co-design port calls and share revenue from shore excursions.

On the political front, Greenland’s leaders continue to send a consistent message to Washington. In statements this week, senior officials underscored that they value close security cooperation with the United States, particularly through the Thule Air Base and broader Arctic surveillance, but that such cooperation cannot be conflated with ownership. Greenland, they stress, is part of a kingdom and a NATO alliance built on mutual consent, not territorial grabs.

Europe and NATO close ranks around Denmark and Greenland

The solidarity voyage also sails into a complex security environment. European officials have reacted with growing unease to Trump’s most recent comments on Greenland, which include suggestions that he might not rule out the use of force to secure control if diplomatic efforts fail. While few analysts believe an invasion is imminent, the rhetoric has been strong enough to prompt open warnings from Brussels.

Andrius Kubilius, the European commissioner responsible for defense and space, said this week that any U.S. military move to take Greenland would “spell the end of NATO,” arguing that an attack on Denmark or its territory would trigger mutual defense obligations among European Union member states. NATO’s secretary general has been more cautious, urging continued cooperation in Arctic security while sidestepping hypotheticals about annexation. Behind the scenes, Danish and Greenlandic officials have sought stronger reassurances from allies that their sovereignty will be upheld.

For the travel industry, those geopolitical cross-currents create both risk and urgency. Arctic itineraries already depend on delicate coordination among coastal states, indigenous communities, scientific bodies, and defense establishments. A serious deterioration of relations between Washington and Copenhagen over Greenland’s status could complicate air links, port access, and search and rescue cooperation, all of which underpin safe tourism in a region defined by ice, remoteness, and rapidly shifting weather.

Tourism boom meets climate emergency in the Arctic

The solidarity flotilla is set against a broader boom in Arctic travel that has unfolded even as scientists warn that the region is warming at more than twice the global average. Greenland’s glaciers, ice sheet, and sea ice have been retreating at accelerating rates, contributing to global sea-level rise and altering ecosystems on which local communities depend for hunting and fishing.

Greenlandic officials have long walked a tightrope between encouraging tourism and guarding against overtourism. On the one hand, visitors bring valuable revenue and international visibility, especially to small settlements with limited economic options. On the other, an influx of large cruise ships can strain fragile environments and local infrastructure, and can risk turning communities into backdrops for social media content rather than partners in sustainable development.

The company behind the flotilla says it will cap vessel sizes, prioritize low-impact expedition ships over mega-cruise liners, and adhere to strict environmental standards, including advanced wastewater treatment and a strong preference for marine fuels with lower emissions and fewer black carbon deposits on ice. It has also pledged to contribute a share of profits to Greenlandic climate initiatives, a move it hopes will reinforce the message that tourism should help protect, not simply consume, the Arctic.

Symbolism, soft power and the politics of perception

Whether the flotilla will meaningfully alter the trajectory of U.S. policy is uncertain. Foreign policy experts caution that symbolic acts, however photogenic, rarely shift hard strategic calculations over resources, shipping lanes, and military positioning. Yet symbols matter in the Arctic, where questions of who belongs, who decides, and who benefits are increasingly contested among states, corporations, and indigenous peoples.

By filling ships with paying guests carrying banners of support for Greenlandic self-determination, the travel firm is betting that public opinion in North America and Europe can be nudged toward a more nuanced understanding of the island as a society, not just a strategic asset. Images of visitors listening to local musicians in a community hall, learning a few phrases of Greenlandic, or joining scientists on deck to track iceberg melt could offer a visual counterpoint to the maps and military briefings that dominate debates in Washington.

The voyage may also deepen an emerging narrative that tourism, when carefully managed, can function as a form of soft power that amplifies local voices rather than drowning them out. For Greenland, whose leaders have often complained about being talked about rather than listened to, that could prove at least as valuable as the short-term economic lift from another summer cruise season.

A contested island watches the horizon

As the flotilla organizers finalize their route and local partners, the politics swirling around Greenland show no sign of calming. Trump, buoyed by supporters who see his Greenland push as a bold assertion of U.S. strength, continues to cast European and Danish objections as obstacles to American security. European and NATO officials, in turn, are increasingly explicit that any attempt to change Greenland’s status by coercion would fracture the Western alliance at a delicate moment.

For Greenlanders, the stakes are deeply personal. Many support greater autonomy and eventually full independence, but on their own timetable and terms. Others prioritize economic stability and continued support from Denmark and the wider Nordic region. Nearly all bristle at the idea that their homeland could be bought, renamed, or annexed without their consent.

In that context, a line of ships making its way toward Greenland’s fjords under a solidarity banner may be a small gesture, but it is one that aligns with the message now coming consistently from Nuuk. The island is open to visitors, investment, and cooperation, its leaders say, but not to being treated as real estate in a twenty-first century land grab. As the summer sailing season approaches, those competing visions for Greenland’s future will be playing out not only in parliaments and presidential palaces, but also on the cold, bright waters of the North Atlantic.