Should the US buy Greenland from Denmark?

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I'm pretty sure they don't want to be ruled by the US of A.

The fact that Greenland belongs to Denmark is just a vestige of European colonialism, and it's being defended by the authoritarian pro-colonialist Left as usual. North America for North Americans! #FreeGreenland!

I think that you're on to something. He probably has some insider knowledge that the island is gonna thaw any day now, and be perfect for golf courses.

So, FINALLY .. TRUMP gives in to pressure for a GREEN NEW DEAL.

You're just in favour of trading one colonial overlord for another, speaking of 'authoritarian, pro-colonialist'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenlandic_independence

Considering the sums of money Denmark pays for Greenland to sustain itself, colour me doubtful. But hey, they're welcome to try.

So you're saying Denmark would be glad to get rid of this frozen drain on its economy.

That's like insisting pet owners would be grateful to get rid of the fuzzy drain on their household economy. You'll have about as much luck trying to buy a dog with that argument as the US will have of taking Denmark's colonial possession.

Not to mention, the people of Greenland won't ever agree to it.

Not the first time the idea has been raised apparently, this came to light in the 90s:

https://www.apnews.com/9d4a8021c3650800fdf6dd5903f68972

2nd May 1991:

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The United States in 1946 proposed to pay Denmark $100 million to buy Greenland after flirting with the idea of swapping oil-rich land in Alaska for strategic parts of the bleak Arctic island, documents in the National Archives show.

The $100 million was to be in gold. And even though the sale did not go through, the United States ended up with the military bases it wanted anyway.

Discovery of the documents, which have been declassified since the early 1970s, was first reported Sunday by the Copenhagen newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

One alternative that was discussed was for the United States to trade land in the Point Barrow district of Alaska for those portions of Greenland that the United States considered of military value.

Under this plan, the Danes would have received the rights to any oil discovered in the district and would have had to sell the oil to the United States.

The richest oil strike in U.S. history was made in 1967 in the Prudhoe Bay area, 200 miles east of Point Barrow. The Point Barrow area now is part of the National Petroleum Reserve, which are oil fields reserved for national defense.

The proposed purchase apparently first came up in November 1945, when Sen. Owen Brewster, R-Maine, said American military and naval authorities favored it and he considered it ″a military necessity.″

In April 1946, State Department official John Hickerson attended a meeting of the planning and strategy committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and reported that ″practically every member ... said that our real objective as regards to Greenland should be to acquire it by purchase from Denmark.″

″The committee indicated that money is plentiful now, that Greenland is completely worthless to Denmark (and) that the control of Greenland is indispensable to the safety of the United States,″ Hickerson said in a memo.

He said he told the committee that he doubted the Danes could be induced to sell the 844,000-square-mile island in the North Atlantic.

In a follow-up to this memorandum on May 24, 1946, William C. Trimble, assistant chief of the State Department’s division of northern European affairs, suggested that the United States offer $100 million in gold for the island.

He said only about 600 Danes resided in Greenland. In more recent years, there have been an estimated 10,000 Danes and 44,000 Inuit, or Eskimos.

″In the final analysis, there are few people in Denmark who have any real interest in Greenland, economic, political or financial,″ Trimble said.

He said it had been suggested that territory in the Point Barrow district be ceded to Denmark in return for strategic portions of the island, but he doubted the Danes would be more receptive to this than to an outright purchase.

He said purchase of Greenland would give the United States ″valuable bases from which to launch an air counteroffensive over the Arctic area in the event of attack.″

On June 20, 1946, Secretary of War Robert Patterson weighed in, writing to Undersecretary of State Dean Acheson that ″it might be a good idea to take prompt action toward securing from Denmark (even to the extent of purchasing the entire island, if necessary) the military rights which have been outlined by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.″

Acheson replied that the State Department was aware of the importance of Greenland, but he didn’t say anything about a purchase.

Secretary of State James Byrnes made the offer to visiting Danish Foreign Minister Gustav Rasmussen in New York on Dec. 14, 1946, according to a telegram from Byrnes to the U.S. Legation in Copenhagen.

After discussing other security arrangements for Greenland, Byrnes said he told Rasmussen that perhaps an outright sale to the United States ″would be the most clean-cut and satisfactory.″

″Our needs ... seemed to come as a shock to Rasmussen, but he did not reject my suggestions flatly and said that he would study a memorandum which I gave him,″ he said.

The Archives file containing the Byrnes memo did not contain any indication of whether the Danes responded or simply let the matter die.

Greenland was made an integral part of Denmark in 1951 after two centuries as a colony. In 1979, the island was granted home rule, but Denmark retains control of foreign and defense affairs.

The U.S. Air Force currently maintains two bases in Greenland, Thule and Sondestrom.

Construction of the Thule base in 1952 was made possible by a defense treaty signed by the United States and Denmark in 1951. Originally designed as a refueling base for long-range bombing missions, it has been a ballistic missile early warning site and satellite telemetry station since 1961. Sondestrom’s mission is in support of the base at Thule.

Surely the US couldn't have thought that presented an attractive offer to Denmark?

Also wonder what the people of Greenland would think of it. Imagine if China offered to buy Idaho - would that be acceptable to the people of Idaho?

The Daily News Just Hit Trump With A Headline For The Ages “Fjord to Trump: Drop Dead.”
This references the most famous headline in New York Daily News History. During the 1975 fiscal crises New York City asked the Federal Government for aide. President Ford said no. The Daily News headline the next day was “Ford to City: Drop Dead”

Paints Danish people badly. Telling a foreign leader to "Drop dead".

That's the amount of respect America's failure-in-chief has earned.

He knows that he cant be a Lincoln, so he is trying to at least be a Fjord!

As I understand it, the very notion of buying Greenland was floated as a joke which Trump took seriously. They say psychopaths have no understanding of humor.

Yup, if some advisor said "Krakatoa's hot property" he'd offer to but that as well