Sorry Mr. Trump, Greenland is Not for Sale
Danish officials on Friday confirmed that the island of Greenland is ‘not for sale’ after President Trump expressed interest in purchasing it.
“Greenland is not for sale, but Greenland is open for trade and cooperation with other countries, including the USA,” said Greenland Premier Kim Kielsen.
In the past, interest in controlling Greenland has been related to its strategic location and to its natural resources. The United States has sought to access these resources in the past – so has Canada, Russia, Norway, and China.
“Greenland is rich in valuable resources such as minerals, the purest water and ice, fish stocks, seafood, renewable energy, and is a new frontier for adventure tourism,” said the state’s foreign ministry. “We’re open for business, not for sale.”
Background
Greenland is an autonomous Danish territory located between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. The territory has a population of 56,000 and is about one-fourth the size of the United States.
Nearly 80% of the island is covered with ice.
The United States established a military presence in Greenland during the Cold War and built the Thule Air Base on the island in 1943. In 1968, a B-52 bomber carrying nuclear weapons crashed near the base and released radioactive contamination.
Instead of purchasing the island, perhaps Trump could start paying rent for the Thule base, suggested Danish politician Christian Juhl: “Trump can instead to pay rent for the Thule base, which until now has been made available to the US for free.”
Could Trump actually purchase Greenland?
While it is possible for a government to purchase a territory, such a deal would require consent from the US, Denmark, and Greenland’s citizens.
“If he is truly contemplating this, then this is final proof, that he has gone mad,” said Danish politician Soren Espersen. “The thought of Denmark selling 50,000 citizens to the United States is completely ridiculous.”
The US offered to buy Greenland for $100 million after WWII, but Denmark refused. By CIA estimates, Greenland is now worth about $2.4 billion.
President Trump plans to meet with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during his first formal visit to Denmark next month, but the visit is unrelated to his interest in Greenland.
Author’s Note: Aside from its resources, I can’t imagine what Trump wants with an island that is mostly covered with ice. Maybe he wants to build a ski resort there. Maybe the government has aliens from a cold planet and needs a place to put them. Maybe the island is already inhabited by aliens.
I don’t know why Trump wants to buy Greenland, but if there’s one thing I do know, it’s that Trump knows real estate!
WE have a great idea!! Send all the Communists liberal DEMORATS,Socialists to the Ice Cap. It would be great to get rid of them as they know nothing about our government . All they want is power andcontrol of us Americans. They would banidsh us under the system of theirs—–no freedoms or religion, or freespeech, NOTHING! Get rid of the bastards!!!
Really? Wow!
What is it you were trying to write here? “banidsh”….is that the same as kofefe?
yep that pretty well covers it
Denmark wants the U.S. to pay Denmark rent for military bases? Bases meant to protect THEM? And forgetting what happened in WWII?
It is no longer isolationist and wacky to advocate that the U.S. pull out of many parts of Europe in a myriad of ways. They’re going to drag us down, and that’s their plan to begin with.
We should just stop trading with Greenland and let them fend for themselves and pay for their own military and pay for their own protection.
No need to be mean to them, but since they are “autonomous” with 56000 people I bet if we offer each of them a 100K dollars each, we could certainly have the whole place for $5.6 Billion (about $10/acre). Even $2 billion would provide each person with about $36,000. (about $4/acre) I bet we can buy their votes with that.
It would be worth it for us in the longer run, its a huge amount of space and massive amounts of minerals. And, of course, if Global Warming really does come into play, it will be prime real estate!
Our President is a @ucking moron which causes him to think the rest of the world is interested in what he has to say. The truth is we would prefer he keep his BIG YAP SHUT. Sorry but this President is a fucking moron. The sooner he is out of office the better our Country and the world will be.
Watched the PBS NewsHour and BBC World News America last night. They both covered the comments by the Prime Minister of Denmark and the response by President Trump. She called the idea of purchasing Greenland “absurd.” He took this as an insult, threw a temper tantrum and called off his upcoming visit to Denmark. As the one Dane, a nurse, said when asked about the cancelled trip, “If he’s that stupid, perhaps it’s better if he doesn’t come.”
Nailed it!!!!