Trevor Noah's Epstein-Greenland Joke Goes Viral as Trump Threatens Lawsuit

Trevor Noah's joke at the Grammy Awards linking President Trump's Greenland ambitions to Jeffrey Epstein's island has generated over 7,000 posts in just four hours, reigniting a debate that many Europeans thought was settled at Davos.

The Joke That Triggered a Lawsuit Threat

During his opening monologue at the 68th Grammy Awards on February 1, Noah quipped that Trump wanted Greenland because, with Epstein's island gone, he needed a new place to spend time with Bill Clinton. Trump responded on Truth Social, calling Noah a "dope" and a "total loser" while threatening legal action.

The exchange quickly went viral, with satirical posts flooding social media. One user joked that Denmark had agreed to trade Epstein Island to the US in exchange for Greenland, while another suggested Denmark should simply rename Greenland to "Epstein Island" so that Trump would stop talking about it. The Danish Parliament, meanwhile, was filmed laughing at Trump's separate demand for a Nobel Peace Prize.

PM Nielsen: Trump Still Wants Control

Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen issued a fresh warning on February 2, according to Modern Diplomacy. Despite Trump appearing to back down at Davos, Nielsen said the President's fundamental position has not changed.

Nielsen stated that sovereignty remains a "red line" for Greenland. When asked about choosing between the United States and Denmark, he was unambiguous, according to Al Jazeera: Greenland chooses Denmark, NATO, and the EU.

Greenlandic Voices Reject American Wealth

Greenlandic politician Tillie Martinussen captured a sentiment spreading across the territory. In a video that accumulated over 370,000 views, she asked why Greenlanders would want to be rich like Americans when they see how greedy Americans have become. The clip, shared widely on social media, reflects a broader skepticism about American values among Greenland's 56,000 residents.

Greenlandic commentator Orla Joelsen put the matter plainly: Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people, Greenland has chosen Denmark, and Greenland does not belong to President Trump.

The Distraction Theory

Many viral posts have framed Trump's Greenland push as a deliberate distraction from the release of classified Epstein documents. The timing of Trump's renewed territorial rhetoric coinciding with document releases has fueled speculation on social media, with the Epstein-Greenland connection becoming a recurring theme in satirical content.

This pattern of distraction politics is familiar to European observers, who have watched America's global standing decline in international perception indexes.

European Unity Holds

The European response has been consistent. The European Parliament formally reaffirmed support for Greenland's territorial integrity, while the Council of the EU issued statements backing Danish sovereignty.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney joined the chorus of support, telling reporters at Davos that Canada would always defend Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland, according to The Hill. Canada's Indigenous Governor General is also scheduled to visit Greenland, a symbolic gesture of solidarity, according to ABC News.

The unified response from European and Canadian leaders echoes the position established when Europe stood firm against Trump's Greenland claims earlier this year. The viral penguin mockery that dominated social media in January has evolved into Epstein comparisons, but the fundamental dynamic remains: when the transatlantic community speaks with one voice, American territorial ambitions meet resistance.

A Federal EU Would End This Debate

The Greenland situation exposes a weakness in Europe's current structure. While EU institutions can issue supportive statements and the European Parliament can pass resolutions, Greenland's defense ultimately depends on bilateral arrangements with Denmark and NATO's collective security framework.

A properly federal European Union with common foreign policy and unified defense would not leave small territories like Greenland relying on the goodwill of individual member states. It would represent all European territory with the combined diplomatic and military weight of 450 million citizens.

For now, the current patchwork of treaties and declarations has held. But the fact that a single American president can repeatedly threaten European territory with little consequence beyond viral jokes and parliamentary laughter shows the limits of the EU's current institutional design.