Greenlanders reject Trump's takeover plan
From Our Own Correspondent
BBC
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 17 January 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kate Adie introduces stories from Greenland, Colombia and Greece.
President Trump has said the US needs to 'own' Greenland, to prevent Russia and China from taking it. Katya Adler has been in the capital Nuuk, speaks to Inuit women about the island's painful history of colonisation - and its now uncertain future.
Colombia has also been attracting attention from Mr Trump, following the recent US operation in Venezuela. This schism is out of step with decades of US foreign policy, but an on-going war of words between Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, and the US President on issues from migration to US strikes on fishing boats in the Caribbean, has put a strain on the relationship. Ione Wells report from Bogota.
A hot-button issue for Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is the problem of over-tourism. Visitor numbers have rocketed in recent years, leading to a rise in the tourist tax. But it’s not a problem being felt everywhere in the country. James Innes-Smith travelled to one prefecture where efforts to bring tourists back have fallen flat.
And finally, a landmark court case came to a close in Greece this week, in which a group of aid workers were put on trial after rescuing migrants from the Mediterranean. The 24 former volunteers have faced a range of charges, including human trafficking, money laundering, and facilitating the illegal entry of foreigners into Greece. Tim Whewell travelled to Lesbos, where he discovered how the migrant crisis that began in 2015 has shaped an entire community.
Series Producer: Serena Tarling Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison and Jack Young Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.0 | Hello. Today, we're in Colombia, where we hear from fishermen feeling the ripple effects of recent US military activity. |
| 0:14.9 | Over tourism may be a hot-button issue for Japan's PM, we visit one region trying to lure tourists back. |
| 0:22.9 | And finally, we're in Greece, where a landmark court case came to a close this week, |
| 0:28.3 | in which aid workers were put on trial after rescuing migrants from the Mediterranean. |
| 0:34.1 | But first, Donald Trump's desire to take over Greenland came sharply into focus this week, |
| 0:40.6 | as delegates from Greenland, the US and Denmark met in Washington, along with US Vice President |
| 0:46.8 | J.D. Vance. The talk stalled, due to a fundamental disagreement over plans. But Mr Trump reiterated that control of the |
| 0:56.6 | territory is critical for his planned missile defence system, Golden Dome. Katya Adler has been |
| 1:04.2 | in the capital Nook. In Greenlandic, there are more than 80 words for ice. Freshwater ice, glacier ice, a hole in the sea ice used by seals to surface and breathe, a hole in sea ice made by a narwhal. There's even a word for a passage in sea ice that a boat can go through. On this Arctic island of heart-stopping beauty and the harshest of natural environments, |
| 1:29.3 | knowing your ice, has been key to survival over the centuries. |
| 1:33.6 | Inuit communities first arrived here from Canada around 4,000 years ago. |
| 1:39.0 | The miniature museum in the snow and fairy light-covered Greenlandic capital, Nook, |
| 1:43.8 | has a vibrant exhibition of spears, |
| 1:46.0 | fur-lined clothes and decorated kayaks to help you build up a picture of what it must have been like. |
| 1:52.0 | What I learnt is that juxtaposed with the brutal practicalities of living here, |
| 1:57.0 | Inuk culture is spiritual and mystical, rich in respect for the natural world, |
| 2:03.2 | the seas, the whales and other creatures killed for survival. On the walls of the otherwise grey |
| 2:08.7 | tenement blocks in town, there's a fabulous mural of a proud and powerful looking woman, her hand |
| 2:14.9 | resting on the head of a massive polar bear. The Inuit women of Greenland |
| 2:19.3 | are formidable. It's one of the first things I noticed when I arrived here, unabashedly forthright, |
| 2:25.9 | far more so than the men I stopped in the street to ask their opinion about Donald Trump's |
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