It’s almost as if they’re already American, though! The business of Greenland is business, its leadership emphasized after rumors swirled yesterday that Donald Trump wanted the US to acquire the island from Denmark. The third try is not the charm, Greenland residents told CNN, and not charming either:
President Donald Trump has on multiple occasions brought up buying Greenland from the Danish government and the White House counsel’s office has looked into the possibility, two sources told CNN on Thursday.
The island’s government, however, said in a statement Friday it’s not going to happen: “Greenland is not for sale.” …
“They tried to buy us in 1867, during Second World War, and now they are trying again,” local Kulusuk resident Bent Abeelsen told CNN. “Not gonna happen.”
Greenland’s foreign ministry adopted a more diplomatic tone in discouraging looky-loos. The government also issued a friendly statement thanking us for our interest, but no thanks:
#Greenland is rich in valuable resources such as minerals, the purest water and ice, fish stocks, seafood, renewable energy and is a new frontier for adventure tourism. We’re open for business, not for sale❄️🗻🐳🦐🇬🇱 learn more about Greenland on: https://t.co/WulOi3beIC
— Greenland MFA 🇬🇱 (@GreenlandMFA) August 16, 2019
A Government of Greenland spokesperson reiterated that the island was not for sale when approached for comment by ABC News.
“We have a good cooperation with USA, and we see it as an expression of greater interest in investing in our country and the possibilities we offer,” the spokesperson said. “Of course, Greenland is not for sale. Because of the unofficial nature of the news, the Government of Greenland has no further comments.”
Greenland’s taking it with at least some good humor, and why not? When was the last time anyone read about Greenland as a vacation destination, or … as anything at all other than a frozen wasteland? This is the best PR boost their tourism and investment businesses might have imagined, even if it’s likely only to last a few days.
Not everyone was so flattered, however. NBC News went out and found several unhappy Greenlanders to balance out the government’s friendly-yet-firm message. They had to trawl Twitter to find most of the anger:
“I think we take it as a sick joke by a crazy president,” said Anna Kûitse Kúko, 63, who has lived in Tasiilaq nearly all her life and teaches English here. The remark was one of several from local residents who reacted with a mixture of mockery and anger to the reports, which originated with an article in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. …
Online, locals mocked the idea of Trump’s interest in buying their homeland.
“Wow I didn’t know trump knew greenland existed,” tweeted Miki Fleischer from Nuuk, the nation’s capitol.
“Oh please God no,” wrote Emil Malta in response to the idea.
Another resident reposted a parody photo of a traditional Greenlandic landscape unexpectedly dwarfed by a glittering gold Trump Tower.
That was actually a parody by Hot Air pal Jon “Exjon” Gabriel, which deserves an honorable mention here:
Greenland in 10 years. pic.twitter.com/akqWowauyu
— jon gabriel (@exjon) August 15, 2019
Sadly, this now appears to be just another real-estate pipe dream, but it’s tough to imagine that anyone took the idea all that seriously in the first place, let alone Trump. He built his fortune on real estate, and it’s certainly believable that he’d bring that approach to dealing with American security, in which Greenland is an important piece. This sounds like spitballing at most — fun spitballing, perhaps, but spitballing nonetheless.