The Wall Street Journal first reported in August 2019, and NBC News soon after confirmed, that Donald Trump had held multiple discussions about the prospects of the United States buying Greenland. Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff who became a fierce Trump critic, later told MSNBC that in 2018, the then-president even explored the possibility of swapping Greenland for Puerto Rico.
Nothing ever came of this, though the Republican’s interest angered U.S. allies abroad and sparked a brief international incident.
After Trump’s 2020 defeat, the Biden administration assured everyone that the U.S. was not actually trying to acquire Greenland — at least, not anymore — and the whole matter quietly went away, relegated to the lengthy list of Trump’s strange White House pursuits.
That is, until two weeks ago, when the president-elect brought it back to the fore for reasons that still aren’t altogether clear.
Three days before Christmas, Trump used his social media platform to declare, “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.” A few days later, he referenced Greenland again in a Christmas Day message, claiming that the island’s people “want the U.S. to be there.”
Evidently, he’s still at it. NBC News reported:
Donald Trump on Monday confirmed that his eldest son will visit Greenland amid increased calls by the president-elect that the U.S. should control the autonomous territory owned by Denmark. “I am hearing that the people of Greenland are ‘MAGA,’” Trump wrote on his social media platform. “My son, Don Jr, and various representatives, will be traveling there to visit some of the most magnificent areas and sights.”
Right off the bat, it’s worth appreciating the fact that when the incoming president uses the phrase, “I am hearing that…,” it generally refers to odd ideas that Trump simply made up out of whole cloth.
What’s more, there was no real reason for the Republican to let the world know that one of his adult sons plans to go sight-seeing in Greenland, except for the larger context related to the president-elect’s apparent intention to try to purchase the island.
Indeed, after noting Trump Jr.’s travel plans, the president-elect added, “Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World.”
Note, according to Robert O’Brien, Trump’s former White House national security advisor, Greenland should be presented with a choice: Either the U.S. could be paid to protect the island militarily, or the island could become part of the U.S. itself.
Evidently, the president-elect prefers the latter. A couple of weeks ago, the island’s Prime Minister Mute Egede said in a written statement, “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale.” Trump, by all appearances, is reluctant to take no for an answer. A Politico report noted, “Trump’s renewed focus on Greenland is being met with exasperation and eye rolls from several current and former U.S. national security officials. Some point out that the island isn’t for sale and talks of acquiring the territory could just alienate Greenlanders and Danes from deeper cooperation with the U.S., which has a military base there.” The same report quoted Jim Townsend, a former senior Pentagon official who worked on NATO and arctic defense policy, saying, “Pissing everybody off by saying we’re just going to buy them outright really bruises our bilateral relationship with the Danes and more importantly ruins any kind of way for us to work this out with Greenlanders.” It’s going to be a long four years.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
Latest Post
Recommended
