Face of Nation : Buying huge office towers, resorts and golf courses is so yesterday. US President Donald Trump has flagged the idea of buying the world’s biggest island – Greenland. Reports have emerged that President Donald Trump talked to aides and allies about buying the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland for the United States.
A Trump ally told The Associated Press on Thursday that the president had discussed the purchase of the island, which sits between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, but was not serious about it. The ally spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. According to the Wall Street Journal, Mr Trump asked advisers during meetings, at dinners and in “passing conversations” whether it was possible for the US to buy Greenland.
Mr Trump “listened with interest when they discuss its abundant resources and geopolitical importance and, according to two of the people, has asked his White House counsel to look into the idea,” the paper reported. It was also seen to be seen as an a “Alaska-style legacy for Mr Trump’s legacy”.
Amused – or shocked – social media went into meltdown, with many asking the question whether Greenland was bigger than Africa, was it impoverished or whether “Greenlanders” wanted to be sold off to the US. It wouldn’t be the first time an American leader tried to buy the world’s largest island, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
In 1946, the US under Harry Truman proposed to pay Denmark $100 million to buy Greenland after flirting with the idea of swapping land in Alaska for strategic parts of the Arctic island.
