Facts Matter: The US didn’t own Greenland
President Donald Trump gave a Jan. 21 speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in which he talked about his plan to acquire Greenland.
“We saved Greenland (during World War II) and successfully prevented our enemies from gaining a foothold in our hemisphere,” the president said.
And following the war, “We gave Greenland back to Denmark,” Trump said. “All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland, where we already had it as a trustee, but respectfully returned it back to Denmark not long ago.”
But that’s not accurate, according to PolitiFact. The U.S. did defend Greenland during World War II, however it never possessed that nation and therefore, could not give it back.
Denmark has had a hold on Greenland for more than 300 years.
Denmark began the colonization of Greenland in 1721. In 1933, an international court ruled that Denmark “possessed a valid title to the sovereignty over all Greenland.”
Denmark incorporated Greenland in 1945 and, in 1953, the nation received representation in the Danish Parliament. In 1954, the U.S., along with the United Nations General Assembly, voted to accept that Greenland’s colonial-type status had ended.
Political activists in Greenland achieved home rule in 1979 and established its parliament. Currently, Greenland is a district within the sovereign state of Denmark.
Proud Boys leader not an ICE agent
People in Minneapolis, Minnesota, have been protesting the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents in their community following the shooting death of Renee Good by a U.S. ICE officer.
A recent post on social media claimed that Enrique Tarrio, a former leader of the Proud Boys, is currently working in Minneapolis for ICE. Tarrio had been charged after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison but was released when President Donald Trump, in January 2025, pardoned more than 1,500 people charged with crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.
The Jan. 15 X post included a photo of Tarrio with overlaid type stating, “Founder of Proud Boys is listed as an ICE agent in leaked database.”
But this claim is false, according to Reuters. An unverified list of ICE agents was posted online, but it doesn’t identify Tarrio as a federal agent.
“This individual was never hired by ICE,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Reuters.
Tarrio responded to the claim in a Jan. 14 post on X.
“It’s their goal to spread disinfo so the IDIOTS that believe this take action,” he said.
Voting rights not included in Medicaid
Dr. Mehmet Oz, who serves as the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, recently claimed that Medicaid was linked to the right to vote in the U.S.
“By federal law, if you sign someone up for Medicaid, you also give them the right to vote,” Oz said in a Jan. 6 interview on Fox News. “It's true for (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) as well. As you give out social services, you also get them registered to vote. So you're building up a very partisan group of individuals. This is political patronage at the expense of Medicaid.”
But that’s wrong, according to PolitiFact. Receiving Medicaid doesn’t give citizens the right to vote. Those rights are included in state laws and the U.S. Constitution.
The 1993 National Voter Registration Act requires states to offer voter registration at government offices, including those that register people for public assistance or provide public services for those with disabilities. However, only about 1% of voter registrations happen at those offices.
“All Medicaid is required to do under NVRA is to assist someone who wishes to register to vote,” Dan Meuse, a fellow at the Institute for Responsive Government, told PolitiFact.
Protester not in Iran
A Jan. 9 X post includes a video of a woman holding a photo of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. She sets the photo on fire and then uses the flame to relight the cigarette in her mouth. She then drops the photo in the snow and lets it burn out.
Part of the type above the video reads, “This image from Iran is so powerful.”
Powerful? Yes. But it was not from Iran, according to Reuters. It’s from Canada. The Richmond Hill Public Library in Ontario, Canada, is visible behind the woman.
The woman had posted a screenshot of her lighting the cigarette Jan. 7 to her X and Instagram accounts. Two days later, she posted the video.
In an interview with a Spanish media outlet, she said that she had lived most of her 23 years in Iran but is now living in exile in Canada.
• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.