Trump Wants To Buy Greenland, But The Island Is Not For Sale

Shelby Talcott on August 16, 2019

President Donald Trump has reportedly asked advisers about purchasing Greenland, but the world’s largest island is not for sale.

Trump has inquired about purchasing Greenland on several occasions, according to people familiar with the discussion, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Some of the inquires have been serious while others were dismissed as a joke. Greenland, a Danish territory, dismissed the idea Friday in a tweet from Greenland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accounts.

“We’re open for business, not for sale,” the tweet read.

Greenland’s government also replied in a statement, according to the Washington Post.

“Of course, Greenland is not for sale,” the government said according to the statement. Greenland’s government said that the reports Trump wants to purchase the island indicate “an expression of greater interest in investing in our country and the possibilities we offer.”

Former Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen tweeted that “It must be an April Fool’s Day joke” after hearing the reports. Martin Lidegaard, the chairman of Danish parliament’s foreign policy committee, said that he hoped the reports were “a joke,” according to the Washington Post.

“The Greenlandic people have their own rights. I hope it is a joke – to not just buy a country but also its people,” he said.

Trump is not the first President to have been interested in Greenland. Former President Harry Truman reportedly offered Denmark $100 million to purchase Greenland in 1946. He also was willing to add in a portion of Alaska, CNBC reported, though offer was declined. The U.S. first explored buying the island in 1867.

Greenland is important to U.S. national-security interests, according to the WSJ. The U.S. military has almost unlimited rights in Greenland at Thule Air Base, an American base located on the island.

Trump is scheduled to visit Denmark September 2. The visit is unrelated to reports that he wants to buy Greenland, according to the WSJ.

DCwire features investigative reporting syndicated with permission from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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