Donald Trump Junior, son of the US president-elect, is forsaking the Florida sunshine to make a “private” visit to Greenland. His father has made no secret of his desire to see the United States purchase the territory – largely autonomous, but still part of the kingdom of Denmark – and make it part of the United States.
As if in response, the Danish king has this week redrawn the royal arms to feature Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, more prominently.
Don Jr says he’s there to “make Greenland great again”. Some wonder how much of a joke this is…
Is Donald Trump Junior in Greenland to buy it?
It would be an audacious and swift deal, even by Trump standards. Don Jr says he is “not buying Greenland” but merely on a “very long, personal day trip” on the family private jet.
So does President-elect Trump want Greenland?
For sure. On his Truth Social media platform, he recently wrote: “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.” He also tried it on in his first term, reacting angrily when he received a rebuke from Copenhagen.
Why does Trump want Greenland?
Trump tends to view the world through the lens of a property developer, constantly on the lookout for promising sites. Canada and the Panama Canal have also attracted his attention, as did the distant promise of building a golf course on the beautiful coast of North Korea.
Just as it makes sense to tear down a Manhattan store to build a vast vulgar tower in the sky, so too does Greenland’s unspoilt Arctic wilderness suggest its own possibilities in the interests of making America great again. Among the prizes: mineral extraction, including for energy and the rare earths needed for hi-tech manufacturing; Greenland’s strategic position to make further claims on the Arctic; as a major defence base; fisheries; tourism; and the opening up of new trade routes make the place highly attractive. For a man of Trump’s ego he would probably like to go down in history as the man who expanded the territory of the United States more than anyone else; the effects on a pristine environment do not trouble him.
What are the precedents?
Trump would no doubt enjoy making a larger and even more lucrative acquisition than the two major previous territorial expansions: Alaska from Russia in 1867, under President Andrew Johnson; and the Louisiana Purchase, basically the modern Midwest down to the Gulf, by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803. Those were for $7.2m and $15m respectively, or about $135m and $380m in today’s money. Bargains.
Alaska represented 1,518,000 square kilometres of new territory, against 2,141,000 square kilometres of Louisiana. At 2,166,086 square kilometres, Greenland looks deceptively big on the Mercator projection.
Is it practical?
Greenland could become a state with little difficulty. The total population of 56,000 would be easily absorbed, as would the costs of subsidising the local economy. It would be the largest state in the union, and the least populous.
Would Denmark sell?
It says no, but there have been talks over acquisition on a number of occasions, most notably after the Second World War when the US had established a major base there with the agreement of Denmark’s then government in exile. When the neutrally-inclined Danes, liberated from Nazi rule, wanted to dislodge the Americans from their colony, they encountered resistance and a counter-offer to take it over. Instead, the Danes joined Nato.
Indeed, the US had agreed to buy the Danish West Indies in 1917 with similar concerns about a German occupation of the Caribbean territory. So the Danish West Indies went for $25m, or $700m in 2024 dollars, and have been known ever since as the United States Virgin Islands – an American “territory”.
What about Puerto Rico?
A US territory since 1898, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has longed for full statehood but has been denied by successive administrations. For some reason it seems to be despised by many in the Maga movement, as we saw when a speaker called it a “floating island of garbage” at a Trump campaign rally.
Will the US take over Greenland?
No. The Danes have consistently ruled it out, and, more to the point, the Greenlanders definitely don’t like the idea, preferring independence and closer links with Canada and the US on their own terms.
Greenland’s prime minister Mute Egede, says: “We are not for sale and we will not be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom. However, we must continue to be open to cooperation and trade with the whole world, especially with our neighbours.”