In 2019, Donald Trump shocked the world with the idea that the US could take Greenland from Denmark. It is now becoming public that he wanted to trade the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico for it.
August 2019. Donald Trump talks to reporters about Greenland. “It’s just something we talked about,” the then US president said. “In theory, it belongs to Denmark. We have good relations with Denmark. We protect Denmark because we protect large parts of the world. Then the concept came out.
By “concept” Trump refers to the idea of America occupying Greenland. “Strategically it is interesting and we will be interested in it. but we’ll be with you [erst mal] Talk a little It’s not number one on the agenda, I can tell you that.”
The Danish prime minister called the proposal “absurd” at the time, while the regional government countered: “Of course Greenland is not for sale.” But if you want to believe the revelations of a new book about the 45th president’s term, it wasn’t just about sales at the time: Trump had planned an exchange with Puerto Rico.
EPA
It was not the political advisers who gave her the idea, but the successors to the cosmetics giant Estée Lauder. Trump and Ronald S. Lauder has known each other since college, writes the New York Times. The president told his advisers: “A friend of mine, a very, very, very successful businessman, thinks we can get Greenland. What do you mean by all?”
A team is then put together to explore options in the matter. At least that’s what authors Bibi and Susan Glasser claim in their book, “The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021,” which will be published Sept. 20.
Cabinet and White House staff are said to have been only marginally impressed by Greenland’s idea. Trump, on the other hand, is said to have been selling the whole thing as a flash of his inspiration. “I said, ‘Why isn’t this ours? The former president recalled in an interview for the book. ‘Look at the map. I am a real estate entrepreneur. It’s not that different.”
You just have to look at the size of Greenland, Trump said: “It should be part of the United States.” In reality, though, Lauder put the flea in the president’s ear. Security adviser John Bolton nevertheless retained his assistant Fiona Hill on the matter, although he assessed the advance as disappointing. Hill’s team then secretly meets with the Danish ambassador.
Trump also proposed funding earmarked for Puerto Rico for the purchase of Greenland. Elsewhere, he also suggests swapping Greenland for Puerto Rico, where Republicans are not particularly popular. Nothing should change in the new revelations – quite the contrary.
