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The Story

Can Nato survive a hostile takeover of Greenland?

The Story

The Times

Investigative Reporting, Daily News, Current Affairs, Uk News, News, Politics, Global News, News Analysis, In-depth Journalism, Long-form Audio, Audio Storytelling, Exclusive Interviews, Daily News Podcast

3.91.6K Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2026

⏱️ 36 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

US secretary of state Marco Rubio will meet the Danish and Greelandic foreign ministers later today amid rising tensions over America’s desire to control the island. What would a US takeover mean for the future of Nato, and what do the people of Greenland make of being caught in a diplomatic tussle?


This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory


Guests: 

  • Katie Gatens, Europe correspondent, The Sunday Times
  • Oliver Moody, Berlin Correspondent, The Times & the Sunday Times

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Producers: Edward Drummond and Sophie McNulty.

Read more: ‘We might leave Greenland for somewhere Trump can’t occupy’

What would a US takeover of Greenland look like? Four options examined

Further listening: Greenland, Colombia, Mexico: where will Trump strike next?

Clips: The Times, The New York Times, Sky News, The Associated Press, Nato News, CNN, Fox News, Reuters

Photo: Getty Images.

Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.


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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

From The Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story.

0:06.0

I'm Manvien Rana.

0:12.0

It was spectacular coming into land.

0:17.0

It was a really clear day, bright sunshine, and just out of the window you can

0:23.0

see mountains on mountains and the sea. And it's just such an amazing landscape.

0:31.9

That's Katie Gaetons, Europe correspondent for the Sunday Times, who travelled to the place that everyone seems to be talking about.

0:42.2

You get into Nook, which is a very small town really, which is the capital of Greenland.

0:48.5

And there's a really beautiful, historic old town with the clapboard houses, which are all in different colours.

0:56.8

I was lucky when I went everything was covered in snow, which it just always looks good,

1:01.1

doesn't it?

1:02.4

If that sounds like a picturesque idyll, or a prime bit of real estate, as some might call it,

1:09.6

well, I can think of at least one man who'd agree.

1:13.4

We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not.

1:16.9

We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security.

1:21.1

I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don't do it the easy way,

1:24.8

we're going to do it the hard way.

1:27.3

With the promise of huge mineral and rare earth resources

1:31.4

and its importance for national security,

1:35.0

Greenland has become a bit of an obsession for President Trump.

1:39.1

But how are his comments going down with the people of Greenland?

1:42.8

I think he said something about, like him just buying us, and that's quite, like, scary.

1:50.4

We don't want others to interfere with our way of living.

...

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