Denmark refuses to 'sell itself' when President Donald Trump offers to buy its islands

CNNCiting sources on August 15, Trump said he has repeatedly raised the issue of buying Greenland from the Danish government and the White House legal office is considering the possibility.

Greenland Island. Photo: Reuters

Greenland officials on August 16 dismissed the idea that they would “sell themselves out,” the head of the Danish-owned autonomous island’s foreign ministry said in a statement.Reutersthat: “We are open to business opportunities, we do not sell ourselves.”

Mr Trump is expected to travel to the Danish capital Copenhagen in September and the Arctic will be on the agenda when he meets senior officials from Denmark and Greenland.

Wall Street Journalwas the first to report on Mr. Trump's idea to buy the island.ReutersTwo informed sources later said that some advisers thought Mr. Trump's idea was a joke, but others were quite serious.

Danish politicians reacted to the news on August 16. “It must be an April Fool’s joke,” said former Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

“If he (Mr. Trump) is thinking about this, it is probably proof that he has not thought it through. The idea of ​​Denmark selling 50,000 people to the United States is absolutely ridiculous,” a spokesman for the Danish People’s Party said.

Greenland, a self-governing Danish island located between the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, depends on Denmark for economic support. The island is autonomous in its internal affairs while Copenhagen is concerned with defense and foreign policy.

According toReutersGreenland is attracting interest from major countries such as China, Russia and the United States because of its geostrategic advantages and rich mineral resources. The United States and Denmark signed a defense treaty in 1951 that allows the US military to station troops at Thule Air Base in northern Greenland.

There is currently no evidence that buying Greenland will be on Mr Trump's agenda when he visits Denmark next month.