If Donald Trump seizes Greenland, Redditors say Denmark should take over Maine

By Emily Burnham, Bangor Daily News Staff

President Donald Trump has mused several times over the years about “buying” or even taking by force the island of Greenland from Denmark, citing its strategic military importance.

World leaders and diplomats have decried the idea as not just one that would violate long-established laws about the inviolability of borders but also one that is, as outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, a “waste” of time talking about.

Nevertheless, Greenlanders and Danish people alike have reacted with a mixture of shock, incredulity and, in some cases, genuine worry about the prospect, however unlikely, that the U.S. would attempt to take over the world’s largest island. 

One person on Reddit, username GooseSnake69, suggested that if the U.S. takes over Greenland, Denmark should take over a part of our country. Specifically: Maine.

To that end, the user made a map of Maine — or, should we say, “Mojn” — as if it were a territory of Denmark. They replaced many place-names on the map with Danish names, including “Kvaeg” for Bangor, the Danish word for “cow”; and “Ny Kobenhavn,” or “New Copenhagen” for Portland. Moosehead Lake is now “Elghoved So,” which literally translates to its English name, and Midt Kyst is the new name for the midcoast region. The town of Caribou is now Rensdyr — Danish for “reindeer.”

Another Danish Redditor, NMunkN, said using the word “Mojn” for Maine is particularly funny to Danes because the word is one country bumpkin there would use.

“It’s something a farmer from the border region between Denmark and Germany would say as a greeting,” he said. “It’s commonly associated with farming, drunkenness and with people being from somewhere far away from Copenhagen. It’s basically the Danish version of an American thick southern country accent.”

Others names are a lot closer to their current names — names like Brunsvik, Ellisvaerd, Bar Havn and Bydifort might ring a bell to Mainers. 

People on both Danish and Maine Reddit forums mostly reacted with amused approval, with some Mainers noting they’d gladly join up with Denmark if it meant they’d get universal health care and better rail infrastructure. 

What do you think? Would you want Maine to become a part of Denmark? Or a part of Canada, as many others have often suggested?