Mark Critch takes ‘Trump’ to Greenland in timely ’22 Minutes’ sketch

As Mark Critch watched U.S President Donald Trump fixate on annexing Greenland in recent weeks, annoyance gave way to curiosity — and eventually, a plane ticket.

“He was talking about how there’s nobody up there, and he would sometimes call it Iceland. I’d get frustrated,” says the St. John’s, N.L.-born comedian.

“And I thought, ‘What would happen if he actually took the time to visit the places he plans to invade?’”

So he flew to Greenland to find out.

In Tuesday’s episode of CBC’s “This Hour Has 22 Minutes,” Critch takes his now-familiar Trump impersonation to Greenland, interviewing locals, politicians and protesters as the president threatens to seize the territory.

“It all happened so quickly. By the time you think, ‘Should we do this?’ it’s like, ‘Oh, we got the tickets,’” says Critch.

The segment, titled “It’s Not Easy Bein’ Greenland,” was filmed last week and airs as Trump’s comments continue to reverberate through global politics.

Critch and a small ‘22 Minutes’ crew headed to Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, where he stayed in character as Trump — combover wig and all — while speaking with residents, Indigenous community members and elected officials, including the city’s mayor, Avaaraq S. Olsen.

The goal, he says, wasn’t just parody.

“I didn’t want to make it seem like we’re going there and just dressing up as Trump for stupid content,” he says.

“(I wanted to) use comedy to raise up some Greenlandic voices — people who you might not get to hear because Trump’s voice is so loud, he shouts over everyone.”

Critch says he was struck by Nuuk’s vibrancy — its art, food, history and sense of identity — and by how readily people embraced the premise once they understood it.

“The idea that anyone would just come in to change the flag is insane. It’s thousands of years of history here,” he says.

The reception from locals was largely warm, though not without moments of tension. While filming outside the U.S. consulate during a protest, Critch was slapped by a Danish demonstrator — an incident he describes as charged but ultimately telling.

“There’s a lot of residual anger there still, but he was enjoying that moment to finally get a chance to say something to at least the Wish.com Trump,” Critch says.

The comedian says he was surprised at how many politicians agreed to speak to his faux Trump. Greenlandic opposition leader Pele Broberg told him he’d been inundated with media requests since Trump’s annexation threats — but made an exception for the “22 Minutes” crew.

“He said, ‘I’ve been saying no to everything because it’s overwhelming, but I saw this and I thought, ‘Yeah, I’m going to do that one, because it might rise above the noise.’”

Critch says locals warmed to him and the crew once they realized they were Canadians, dealing with their own Trump annexation headaches.

“It was comforting, in a way, to talk to the neighbours about the other neighbour.”

‘22 Minutes’ has been going viral for sketches lampooning U.S. politics. Critch’s blustery Trump impressions amid his trade war with Canada have been racking up views, and most recently, Stacey McGunnigle’s biting impressions of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt have drawn widespread attention online.

Critch believes the segments resonate because they reflect a distinctly Canadian perspective — watching U.S. political chaos from just across the fence.

“We’re the neighbour on the other side of the fence and we’re hearing a lot of noise and there’s fireworks going off and there’s someone yelling. And we are over here like, ‘Should we call the cops?’” he says.

“You get a different perspective on it looking down from here.”

As for whether Trump himself has seen the impersonation, Critch isn’t sure — though he notes his sketches have appeared on Fox News more than once.

“I think if he did know, there would have been a tweet on Truth Social going, ‘Critch thinks he’s like me, but his giant pale head is nothing like mine, quite frankly,’” he says, launching into his Trump impression.

“I’ve heard terrible things about Newfoundlanders.”

Ultimately, Critch’s message to Trump is simple: if a Canadian comedian will fly to Greenland dressed up as him to hear what the locals have to say, maybe it’s time he did too.

“Listen, just a little bit to any country. It doesn’t matter what country it is,” he says.

“I know he listens to Russia, but maybe in addition, if he could listen to Canada and Greenland sometime, that’d be great.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2026.

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press