When Donald Trump Seriously Considered Buying Greenland from Denmark During His Time in the White House

During his term in the White House, Donald Trump and his administration considered ‘buying’ Greenland from Denmark, while everyone thought it was said in jest. Although the former President said this idea was ‘not No. 1 on the burner,’ they had been contemplating it for ‘strategic reasons,’ as was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Trump stunned everyone with the news of his wanting to purchase Greenland. Although everybody thought it was one of his unreasonable desires, his administration confirmed the news by comparing the idea to ‘a large real estate deal.’ The 77-year-old himself said he had asked his officials to personally look into the possibility of owning the island.

As per NPR , “It’s just something we’ve talked about,” revealed Trump. “Denmark essentially owns it. We’re very good allies with Denmark. We’ve protected Denmark like we protect large portions of the world, so the concept came up.” He also explained the reason behind this idea, which sounded like nothing significant but an unbelievable tabloid headline. The former President explained, “Strategically, it’s interesting. And, we’d be interested. We’ll talk to them a little bit.”

Although Denmark had long been the United States’ strongest ally, Trump’s desire to acquire the autonomous country was not well received in Greenland and the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Mette Frederiksen, Denmark’s Prime Minister, who visited Greenland in 2019, responded to Trump’s remarks on ‘buying’ the island, “Greenland is not for sale… Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland,” clarified Frederiksen, as reported by the newspaper Sermitsiaq . She, too, thought it was a joke. “I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously.”

Meanwhile, the Trump administration was busy making it a reality for the United States. The White House economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, told Fox News that the former President discussed the subject with his advisers. “I don’t want to predict an outcome; I’m just saying the president—who knows a thing or two about buying real estate—wants to take a look at a Greenland purchase.”

Despite being a strange demand, the Greenland government maintained a diplomatic tone while addressing the matter. They let the world and Trump know the island was not on the market for either buying or selling purposes. The statement on their website read, “We have good cooperation with the USA. Of course, Greenland is not for sale.”

Meanwhile, other politicians, like former Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, mocked this idea and shunned it on X, formerly Twitter. He reposted the WSJ article and wrote, “It must be an April Fool’s Day joke… but totally out of season.” Expectedly, Trump attracted more mockery for his desire to ‘buy’ a country. Ivo H. Daalder, a former ambassador to NATO under former President Barack Obama, criticized the move by saying, “This is yet another blow to American credibility under President Trump… No leader, friend or foe, will take America seriously,” reported The New York Times .

The official continued, “It’s not just the unthinkable notion of buying and selling territory as if we’re talking about a building or golf course. It’s also the abrupt cancellation of a state visit as a result of the totally predictable rejection of that notion.”