Is Trump actually serious about trying to buy Greenland? His staffers are apparently unsure, too.


President Trump really has been exploring the idea of purchasing Greenland for weeks now, The Washington Post and CNN report, confirming The Wall Street Journal's Thursday scoop. Is he serious, though? Nobody seems to know.
"The presidential request has bewildered aides, some of whom continue to believe it isn’t serious, but Trump has mentioned it for weeks," the Post reports, citing two unidentified people with knowledge of the president's demand. "As with many of Trump’s internal musings, aides are waiting for more direction before they decide how seriously they should look into it." CNN says the White House counsel's office has looked into the idea, though its sources did not report what the counsel found or how hard it looked.
Buying Greenland from the Danes may not be practicable, but the idea isn't crazy or even new. U.S. Secretary of State William Seward — famous for "Seward's folly," also know as Alaska — showed interest in also purchasing Greenland in 1867. And in the Truman administration, Secretary of State James Byrne offered Danish Foreign Minister Gustav Rasmussen $100 million in gold for the barren, ice-covered island in December 1946, according to telegrams in the National Archives.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The offer "seemed to come as a shock to Rasmussen, but he did not reject my suggestions flatly and said that he would study a memorandum which I gave him," Byrnes wrote. It's not clear if Denmark ever formally replied, but in 1951 it upgraded Greenland from a colony to a territory and then granted it home rule in 1979.
In any case, Trump can name his price, if he's serious, but every deal must also have a willing seller, and, well...
Oh well. There are other islands in the sea.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
AI is creating a luxury housing renaissance in San Francisco
Under the Radar Luxury homes in the city can range from $7 million to above $20 million
-
How carbon credits could help and hurt the climate
The explainer The credits could be allowing polluters to continue polluting
-
5 tips for building a healthy skincare routine for tweens and teens
The Week Recommends Social media is pushing overly elaborate routines for young skin
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders