“As an American, I am so sorry. This is all so backwards and wild.”
“As someone in America, I’m very sorry for what my government is putting you guys through.”
“As an American, I want you [to] be free or be with Denmark.”
These are some of the comments on the Reddit forum r/Greenland, where users have been heavily discussing U.S. President Donald Trump’s increased insistence on owning the Danish territory.
Highlights
- Reddit's r/Greenland is flooded with Americans apologizing for Trump's push to buy Greenland, but mods ask them to stop.
- The moderators emphasize that American apologies mean little; the U.S. acts as a single entity on the world stage.
- President Trump publicly insists on buying Greenland, posting AI images and incorrectly stating the U.S. shouldn't have returned it to Denmark.
A Reddit moderator told Americans to stop apologizing
Image credits: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Many Americans have also taken to comment sections to apologize for Trump’s behavior, share how ashamed they are, and profess their support for Greenland. But Reddit moderators are tired of it.
“We’re getting at least 10 posts a day from Americans apologising, and saying things like they didn’t vote for Trump or don’t support his policies. To be blunt, none of that actually matters,” a moderator told Americans on the forum.
“You can say you’re different from the rest of Americans, but to the rest of the world, that distinction doesn’t exist. To us, your country is a single entity on the world stage, and it’s threatening its allies.”
Image credits: r/greenland/Reddit
They continued, “Think about how you view other countries. For example, Russian opposition doesn’t change what Russia does, because that’s their domestic politics. The same thing applies to the US too, except you had the power to choose your president, and you may still have it.”
“So instead of coming here nonstop to apologise on behalf of your country for your constant need for sympathy, focus on actually changing something while you still can,” the post concluded.
Trump has doubled down on his “psychologically important” need to own Greenland. Earlier this week, he posted an AI-generated image of himself claiming Greenland with an American flag.
Image credits: Samuel Corum/Getty Images
He also repeatedly spoke of it at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, claiming the U.S. should not have given the island back to Denmark after World War II. Historically, the U.S. has never owned Greenland.
A YouGov study found that 72% of people oppose using the U.S. military to take control of Greenland. The White House previously said it had not ruled out military options for acquiring Greenland. However, in Davos, Trump said the U.S. would not use force to acquire the territory.
Some 55% were opposed to the move, even when it comes to a more democratic approach to acquiring Greenland, such as purchasing it from Denmark, a Quinnipiac University poll showed.
Image credits: Martin Sylvest Andersen/Getty Images
The moderator’s request saw mixed reactions. One user said, “The most infuriating part is that the other 200 million 'sane ones' are just sitting there, clenching their fists in their pockets, and begging for someone else to come save them from the 100 million idiots because they're powerless to do anything about it.”
They called Americans “spineless,” adding that they did not care about Americans’ apologies, “because it's just words. All talk, no action.”
They added that Americans should do “more than nothing. Do anything at all besides just wishing for a magical genie to come and fix your own domestic problem for you.”
There were mixed reactions, with some users calling for Americans to protest
Image credits: r/greenland/Reddit
“Their attitude is a large part of the problem. They seem to live in denial that Trump is an isolated and small phenomenon,” said another.
But many users came in defense of Americans. One person asked, “Honest question, what would you all have done if that happened? If your far-right leader was elected? How would you convince all the people who voted for them that their guy is evil?”
They continued, describing a solution and the problem in achieving it. “The only obvious answer is sustained, daily protest. But much of the country lives paycheck to paycheck and depend on keeping their job for their healthcare.”
Image credits: r/greenland/Reddit
“Oh well thanks, I will go change things now that you mention it. What a helpful suggestion we'd not yet thought of,” one person wrote sarcastically.
On a widely shared screenshot of the Reddit post, one user wrote, “What exactly do you expect any of those individual Americans to do? What power you think they have that they aren’t utilizing?
“‘You can say you’re different from the rest of Americans, but to the rest of the world that distinction doesn’t exist.’ That’s just prettied-up bigotry.”
Image credits: Larawithabird/X
“Strike, revolution, riots, you pick, literally anything,” said another person in response.
Some people spoke purely from a more general perspective. “It's just exhausting to see essentially the same meaningless thoughts and prayers posts because someone personally needed to feel better about it lol,” said one person.
Another netizen added, “We know it's not Americans -as individuals- but we have no choice but to see them as an entity, just as they see Canada as one.”