Greenlanders are taking to TikTok to brutally mock America

After making it pretty clear in opinion polls that they’re very happy remaining a territory of Denmark, citizens of Greenland are now deploying a new tactic to make it clear to US president Donald Trump that they do not want to be a part of America: posting TikTok videos mocking the country’s fentanyl crisis.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 105,000 people died from a drug overdose in 2023, and nearly 80,000 of those opioids.

While the opioid overdose death rate declined by four per cent from 2022 to 2023, the number of deaths in 2023 was almost 10 times the figure recorded in 1999.

Posts by Greenlanders see them leaning forwards, as if to touch their toes, with their hands swinging in front of them.

It’s known as the ‘fentanyl fold’, and the ‘fenty pose’ became a viral social media trend last year.

When TikTok user @pov_fromarctic shared his take on the trend, complete with the text overlay ‘Bringing American culture to Greenland’, the video went on to receive more than 1.2 million likes and 8.8 million views at the time of writing.

One top comment on the platform reads: “As an American, I was unfamiliar with Greenland’s humor game. Well done, carry on.”

Another replied: “As an American this is golden content. Stay strong Greenland! We don’t want our president either.”

Meanwhile, over on X/Twitter, one account wrote that “the whole world is laughing” at Trump “but the White House is busy celebrating his 1 yr anniversary like it’s an achievement”:

“So much entertainment. Thank you, Trump,” tweeted another:

And a third branded the video “crazy”:

Others, however, have criticised the video for ‘making fun’ of victims of drug addiction, with one noting “you never know their circumstances”:

“You can oppose colonialism without mocking struggling people,” another wrote:

The viral video came in the same week that Trump ramped up his rhetoric around the US taking ownership of Greenland for “national security” reasons - from threatening tariffs on European countries if they “don’t go along with Greenland”, to posting an AI image of himself appearing to take over the country and penning an “extremely worrisome” letter to Norway’s prime minister.

On Wednesday, Trump spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he once again mentioned the subject of Greenland (at one point confusing it with Iceland).

“I don't want to use force. I won't use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland.

“It's the United States alone that can protect this giant mass of land, this giant piece of ice, develop it and improve it and make it so that it's good for Europe and safe for Europe and good for us,” he said.

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