Two new tweets from President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening appear to show that he is serious about wanting to purchase Greenland from Denmark, a move that has a lot of support from Trump’s base.
“Denmark is a very special country with incredible people, but based on Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time,” Trump tweeted. “The Prime Minister was able to save a great deal of expense and effort for both the United States and Denmark by being so direct. I thank her for that and look forward to rescheduling sometime in the future!”
On Monday, Trump shared a meme on his Twitter account that was widely viewed as humorous, even by some of the Left.
Trump tweeted out a photo of Greenland with a picture of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas photoshopped into the photo, writing: “I promise not to do this to Greenland!”
Greenland Premier Kim Kielsen responded to Trump’s comments about Greenland by saying that it “is not something to joke about.”
Trump had indicated to reporters on Sunday that he was serious about wanting to buy the world’s largest island, saying: “Strategically, for the United States, it would be nice. And we’re a big ally of Denmark, and we help Denmark, and we protect Denmark.”
The Washington Examiner’s editorial board wrote about why purchasing Greenland, which the U.S. discussed doing after World War II, is still a good idea for the United States today.
“Through the U.S. Air Force base already present at Thule, Greenland offers critical intelligence capabilities to conduct satellite operations and to detect possible over-the-North-Pole nuclear missile launches from China or Russia,” the Examiner noted. Thule better allows the U.S. to warn its citizens of an imminent attack. Thanks to Thule’s deep water port and long runway, the base provides a logistics hub for operations in the Arctic. And it gives the U.S. military the means to deter and defeat prospective aggression. Russia, in particular, has been working to secure territorial control over resource-rich areas of the Arctic. America’s presence in Greenland is increasingly relevant for that reason.”
“Greenland also abounds with resources. An already energy independent U.S. would have unfettered access to a land rich not only in hydrocarbons but also in rare earth metals that are currently only available from an adversary, China,” The Examiner added. “Greenland also controls flourishing fishing waters.”