Caps bearing words against a U.S. takeover bid have become hottest-selling items in stores in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, reflecting Greenlanders' steadfast stance -- "Greenland is not for sale" -- through this humorous and understated form of expression.
At one of the largest drugstores in Nuuk, caps featuring anti-U.S. slogans are displayed in the most prominent spot at the entrance and are the store's bestselling items.
"I thought, wow, it is nice for us because it says 'Nu det Nuuk' - it's like, 'Now, it is enough' in Danish, and Nuuk is our city's name. So, I decided to buy 100 of these caps in September. In January, it ran very fast. So, we sold a lot -- through three days, maybe 100 caps. So, it is quite popular, that one here, the red one. And then afterwards, we got these two designs, and we have it in the black color here, same cap here," said Ria Hornum, the storekeeper.
In early January, the red caps became popular in Nuuk and Copenhagen. At first glance, they resembled the "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) caps often worn by Americans, but the slogan had been altered to read: "Make America Go Away."
Now, new white and black caps featuring the phrase "Already Great" have also been put on sale at the store.
"Maybe someone misunderstands this red one, because this original cap is like MAGA in the USA. So, we want to make a change to the white and the black -- it's 'Already Great.' We don't need to be sold to one another. This land is a quite beautiful land, and we don't wanna be American. Here in Greenland, this land is a very peaceful land, and we are living in harmony with nature -- all of us -- and we don't need to destroy it. We wanna continue like that, in peacefulness," Hornum said.
Greenland, the world's largest island, is a self-governing territory within Denmark, with Copenhagen retaining control over defense and foreign policy. The U.S. maintains a military base on the island. Since returning to office in 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to "obtain" Greenland.
Trump has accelerated his push to acquire the island. In January, Trump announced that the U.S. would impose a 10 percent tariff from Feb 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and Finland, and raise the levy to 25 percent from the beginning of June unless a deal is reached for the U.S. to "purchase" the territory.
The tariff threat has unleashed widespread EU pushback and decry as well as mass protests.
Caps bearing anti-U.S. slogans become bestsellers in Greenland's capital
