Some people said that President Trump had to be kidding about wanting to buy Greenland, while others believed an aide invented the whole story in order to make him look foolish, but on Sunday, Trump confirmed that he's "interested" in buying Greenland.
"It's something we talked about," Trump told reporters. "Denmark essentially owns it, we're very good allies with Denmark." He did acknowledge that the United States would "have to find out whether or not they have any interest" in selling, but he said they are "losing a tremendous amount of money, so we'll see what happens." His top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, is supporting Trump's endeavor, saying on Fox News Sunday he doesn't want to "predict an outcome. I just know the president, who knows a thing or two about buying real estate, wants to take a look at a potential Greenland purchase."
Denmark has already given its answer: No. "Greenland is not for sale," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told the newspaper Sermitsiag on Sunday. "Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland. I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously." Frederiksen will be able to reiterate this to Trump's face in September, when he is scheduled to visit the country. About 56,000 people live on Greenland, and one resident, Anna Kuitse Kúko, told NBC News that she's pretty sure every single one of them thinks this is "a sick joke by a crazy president."
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.
-
Memo signals Trump review of 233k refugeesSpeed Read The memo also ordered all green card applications for the refugees to be halted
-
Pentagon targets Kelly over ‘illegal orders’ videoSpeed Read The Pentagon threatened to recall Kelly to active duty
-
Judge tosses Trump DOJ cases against Comey, JamesSpeed Read Both cases could potentially be brought again
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
