President Donald Trump
has considered offering to buy Greenland. You can read more about this in
various news articles. I especially like CNN[1]’s
nice analysis of Trump’s idea.
Critics criticized the idea as ridiculous. But, is it really?
Benefits of Buying
Greenland
Greenland apparently has
a huge amount of natural resources. And, with global warming, its climate may
become more inhabitable in the future. If available at a reasonable price,
buying Greenland could be an excellent investment for the United States. A
Washington Examiner editorial[2]
hails Trump’s idea as “a great idea” in its headline, then goes on to discuss
why.
Is Greenland Available?
Persons in both Greenland
and Denmark, which owns Greenland (as an autonomous country according to Visit
Greenland[3]
and other sources), have responded that Greenland is not for sale, according to
various news articles, including a
BBC piece[4]
and a New
York Times piece[5].
It would have been nice
if President Trump had sought out information on whether Greenland was
potentially for sale before tweeting or otherwise publicly expressing interest
in buying it.
But, who knows? If the
price is right and conditions change, maybe someday a deal can be worked out.
However, currently Denmark and Greenland may be in better shape than the United
States in several respects, so a U.S. purchase of Greenland doesn’t seem likely
in the near future.
Thinking Innovatively
One
think I respect about President Trump is his inclination to come up with new
ideas, unusual ideas, things the typical Republican or Democratic politician
would not come up with—or at least not express publicly.
I
voted for a minor party candidate instead of either Trump or Clinton in the
2016 presidential election. And, I still dislike several things about the
President.
Indeed,
some of Trump’s ideas and comments do seem ridiculous. But, others are insightful.
I count this idea among the insightful ones.
Trump Visiting Denmark
Next Month
President
Trump is scheduled to visit Denmark in September according to various news
sources, including a Reuters
article[6]
and one
from the Associated Press[7].
I wonder if the possibility of purchasing Greenland will come up during the
visit?
Maybe
the President will simply state that if Denmark ever changes its mind about
selling Greenland to contact the President, or maybe the President will be bold
enough to throw out a dollar figure in case Denmark might change its mind about
interest. At any rate, I doubt that Greenland will be offered for sale—reports
from Greenland and Denmark seem clear about that.
Land Acquisitions in
History
In
recent centuries there have been numerous land purchases by various countries,
including the United States’ purchase of Alaska from Russia and its Louisiana Purchase
from France.
But,
it sadly seems that land is more often obtained by one country from another via
war. To cite two major 20th century examples, World War I and World
War II and the divisions of land afterward led to numerous changes in countries
and the land they possessed.
Indeed,
wars often are fought over rights to lands rich in natural resources, etc.
Open,
honest discussions about possible land acquisitions that are accompanied by a
respect for the rights of the peoples of the nations involved are far
preferable to wars that damage property, kill and injure people, and lead to
divisions that can last generations.
Closing Thoughts
As
a proponent of freedom of speech and open discussion, I support President
Trump’s idea, while thinking it could have been expressed better. I think he
could have made it clear that he was interested in purchasing Greenland only if
Denmark and Greenland were interested in selling. And, I hope he will respect
the rights of Greenland and Denmark to turn down his offer if indeed he ever
formally makes one.
ENDNOTES:
[1] Chris Cillizza; “Five questions about Donald Trump’s
interest in buying Greenland, answered”; CNN; updated 4:36p.m. ET August 16,
2019; website accessed August 17, 2019; https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/16/politics/greenland-donald-trump-denmark/index.html
[2] “Buying Greenland
isn’t a good idea – it’s a great idea”; Washington
Examiner editorial; August 17, 2019 12:00 a.m.; website accessed August 17,
2019; https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/buying-greenland-isnt-a-good-idea-its-a-great-idea
[3] Nellie Huang; “10
Facts About Greenland That You Might Not Know”; Visit Greenland, a website
owned by Greenland’s government; website accessed August 17, 2019; https://visitgreenland.com/articles/10-facts-nellie-huang/
[4] “Greenland: Trump
warned that island cannot be bought from Denmark”; BBC; August 16, 2019;
website accessed August 17, 2019; https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49367792
[5] Martin Selsoe
Sorenson; “ ‘Greenland is not for sale’: Trump’s Talk of a Purchase Draws
Derision”; New York Times; August 16,
2019; website accessed August 17, 2019; https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/16/world/europe/trump-greenland.html
[6] Jacob
Gronholt-Pedersen; “Greenland tells Trump it is open for business but not for
sale”; Reuters; August 16, 2019; website accessed August 17, 2019; https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-greenland/greenland-tells-trump-it-is-open-for-business-but-not-for-sale-idUSKCN1V60AQ
[7] Zeke Miller and
Matthew Lee; “AP sources: Trump has talked about buying Greenland for US”;
Associated Press; August 16, 2019; website accessed August 17, 2019; https://www.apnews.com/65a521dc605e43bd972ba6fcf36a5713
NOTE:
This piece being
submitted to Google Blogger on August 18, 2019 is virtually identical to one the author submitted to Craft News Report, a website operated by his friend Paul Craft, on August 17, 2019.
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