The rumor circulated as Trump floated the idea of the United States taking over Greenland and after U.S. military forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The implication was that Trump — who had a years-long friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and has long been accused of resisting efforts to release files related to Epstein's crimes — would stop talking about the acquisition of Greenland out of fear of bringing attention to his connection to Epstein. "Epstein Island" generally refers to Little St. James, an Epstein-owned island that served as his primary base of operations.
On Jan. 8, one X user said Denmark's purported decision was a "clever idea" (archived).
The claim appeared several times on X, as well as Facebook, with some social media users seemingly taking it at face value.
Several internet searches returned no evidence that Denmark had renamed Greenland "Epstein Island."
Instead, the rumor originated from Dutch satirical website De Speld (archived). The article, originally written in Dutch, read:
Denmark is fed up with Donald Trump's constant threats against Greenland. During a press conference, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that the Arctic island will henceforth be called Epstein Island, so that Trump will stop talking about it.
"Let me be very clear: Epstein Island is ours," says a fierce Frederiksen. "If the US president deems it necessary to defend Epstein Island more effectively, we can discuss it as NATO allies. But Epstein Island will remain part of the Danish kingdom."
According to insiders, former President Bill Clinton has already booked a hotel there.
Page 3 (archived) of De Speld's media kit stated (translated using DeepL):
De Speld is the leading news platform for satire in the Netherlands. De Speld produces and publishes high-quality journalistic satire. With socially relevant content, they reach millions of people every day to entertain them, make them think, and get them moving.
Among Trump's comments about taking over Greenland, on Jan. 5, 2026, he posted a video on Truth Social (archived), his social media platform, in which he said the United States supposedly needs to acquire the territory for national security purposes. He said: "It's so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it."
In February 2025, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, a Georgia Republican, introduced a bill to rename Greenland as "Red, White and Blueland."
Trump's interest in Greenland has spurred numerous pieces of satirical or false media. For example, in April 2025, Snopes examined a video purportedly showing Frederiksen and the Danish parliament laughing uncontrollably while listening to a recording of the U.S. president talking about acquiring the territory.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.