REPORT: President Trump Considering Historic Purchase of Greenland
Richard Moorhead
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President Donald Trump may soon enough cement his legacy as a historic American President through adding the island of Greenland as a United States territory.
Reporting from the Wall Street Journal Thursday indicates the President is highly interested in acquiring the island. Denmark currently administers the island, which is geographically a part of the North American continent.
The President is said to have been repeatedly suggesting the prospect to his advisors. The United States already has a historic relationship with the island, which houses a major U.S Air Force base. The island, located between Europe and North America in the Arctic Sea, has abundant natural resources and a prime strategic location.
President Trump is slated to visit Denmark next month, and it’s possible real discussions about the idea could come to fruition then.
A purchase of Denmark wouldn’t be entirely unlike President Andrew Johnson’s historic Alaska Purchase from Russia in 1867.
Seeing as Alaska has since become a successful, strategically important, and economically productive American state despite being distant from the American mainland, it’s very possible an integration of Greenland into the United States could be similarly successful.
Greenland is primarily populated by Inuit peoples, who have adapted to life in the island’s harsh arctic climate over many centuries. The territory has had a somewhat tenuous relationship with the Danish government recently, and polling indicates that a majority of Greenlandic people (64%) favor independence.
Joining the United States as a territory could represent a way for the people of Greenland to change their political status without taking the risks of declaring independence as a fully sovereign and new country. The island has a population of approximately 56,000, and is the least densely populated territory on Earth.
Entering the U.S. would provide Greenland’s residents with access to the world’s wealthiest national economic market, and probably provide them a measure of self-government greater than what Denmark can offer.
Many Americans will watch closely to see if President Trump’s potential real estate deal of a lifetime comes to pass.
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