Even his critics were seen asking… would it be such a bad idea after all?
Trump is famous for saying things to keep people guessing. Some of it is real, setting us up for a direction change, some of it is just messing around.
And why not? No less esteemed a President than Ronald Reagan did the same thing. Remember when he had half of Moscow wetting their pants with his joke?
“My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.”
There’s a little bit of that same Puckish playfulness in our current President.
The question is — was he kidding when he talked about buying Greenland or was he serious?
The WSJ reported the following:
The idea of the U.S. purchasing Greenland has captured the former real-estate developer’s imagination, according to people familiar with the discussions, who said Mr. Trump has, with varying degrees of seriousness, repeatedly expressed interest in buying the ice-covered autonomous Danish territory between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans.
For those who haven’t given two seconds’ thought to Greenland, their relationship to Denmark is a lot like our territories’ relationship to the USA. They’re connected, but separate.
Despite the levity the idea has provoked, it is not entirely in the realm of fantasy. In 1946 US President Harry Truman tried to buy Greenland from Denmark for $100m but was rebuffed. There was a more successful precedent dating back to 1917 when the US acquired the Danish West Indies, rebranding them the US Virgin Islands.
The US military already has a major airbase on Greenland, on the north-west of the island. The base has 600 personnel and is important in the country’s global radar system.
Trump travels to Denmark next month in his first official visit to the kingdom, though Greenland is not thought to be on the agenda. The Journal reported that the president raised the issue at a dinner last year in which he said he had heard Denmark was finding its financial support to the self-governing territory burdensome.
Source: Guardian
Significant land purchases are hardly a new idea: Louisiana Purchase, Gadsden Purchase and the purchase of Alaska all redrew our maps in significant ways.
Are we to take the purchase of the world’s largest island seriously, or was he playing around? (Australia and Antarctica, though larger, are both considered continental landmasses.)
Even the media on the left are giving serious consideration to the idea…
WSJ reporter says Greenland has enormous natural resources, and has great economic and strategic military interests
"It's almost a question of why wouldn't the U.S. want it?"
Naysayers ask, "Why"?
Doers and builders ask, "Why not?" pic.twitter.com/RCZwJJft2L
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) August 16, 2019
Journalists have reminded us that the Alaska Purchase was also mocked at first.
Why would the US want it?
China and Russia are both taking an interest in the Arctic Circle.
It’s an interesting problem. Denmark isn’t really the long-term solution for keeping Greenland friendly and out of Russian or Chinese hands. The U.S. buying Greenland would have Russia bouncing off the walls, however, partly because of military considerations and partly because of Arctic claims issues. (Canada would be likely to have some strong opinions too, for that matter.)
A key question is whether there is some concession the U.S. would be willing to make – something important to Russia – to give Moscow an incentive to accept such a deal without getting into a lather. That concession would not involve U.S. territory, of course, and it could not involve selling out an ally’s security. Source: LibertyUnyielding
China, as Mark Levin likes to point out, already controls both ends of the Panama Canal. Sharing control of both ends of a stretch of navigable waters with Canada could be strategically important, as Russia and China are already looking to establish inroads on the Island, which (in the case of China) is often the first step to drawing them into their political orbit.
Greenland, we are told is ‘not for sale’.
But even if it were, any good negotiator would have that as his starting point.
Is there strategic and economic value in purchasing Greenland?
Is this just a goofy blip in the news cycle?
Or will our kids grow up with a different map of our nation than we did?
Is he serious? Is he kidding? Should we do it? Is it a bad idea?
What do our readers think about it?
What do you think about this Greenland idea?
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