If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
President-elect Donald Trump apparently wants to make another play to take control of Greenland—an autonomous region of Denmark that by all accounts isn’t for sale—even after a disastrous attempt during his first term created a diplomatic firestorm.
ADVERTISEMENT
Trump announced his renewed interest in Greenland at the bottom of a Truth Social post Sunday which named PayPal co-founder and former Swedish Ambassador Ken Howery as his pick for ambassador to Denmark.
After touting Howery’s credentials, Trump added: “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”
The statement comes more than five years after Trump first floated the idea of buying Greenland in what he bizarrely described at the time as “essentially a real-estate deal.” In fact, the Danish constitution protects Greenland’s autonomy and would need to be amended if Denmark wanted to sell, which so far hasn’t been the case.
In 2019, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen—who is still in office—called the idea “absurd.” Trump retaliated by canceling a planned state visit to Denmark, which in turn infuriated the officials he was scheduled to meet.
After Trump won re-election, Frederiksen called to congratulate him and vowed to work together on security issues, her office said in a statement.
The Daily Beast has reached out to her office for comment on Trump’s post.
Thanks to its strategic location in the north Atlantic, the U.S. has been interested in absorbing Greenland for more than 150 years. In 1946, former President Harry Truman offered to buy the island for $100 million in what would have been the single largest territorial expansion in U.S. history.
But the issue has historically been a non-starter—even after Trump promised not to build a Trump tower in the middle of Nuuk, Greenland’s capital.
The incoming president is reportedly far more interested in the island’s coal, zinc, and copper reserves than in traditional real estate prospects. Greenland is also home to the U.S.’s northern-most military base, Pituffik Space Base (until recently Thule Air Base), which helps provide crucial intelligence-gathering for missile warnings and space surveillance.
Meaning Howery—who wrote on the social media platform X that he was “deeply humbled and honored” by the nomination—will have his work cut out for him. Elon Musk replied to Howery’s post with a message encouraging the diplomat to “Help America gain Greenland,” along with a crying-laughing emoji.
