Trump Wants to Be Another Seward But Instead of Buying Alaska from Russia He Wants to Purchase Greenland from Denmark

August 16, 2019 – No less than The Wall Street Journal reported today that Donald Trump as President is looking to buy some property. Instead of a casino, golf resort, or hotel, this time its Greenland.

Think of some of the reasons why this American president would want to add Greenland to Guam, Puerto Rico, and The U.S. Virgin Islands to become the latest overseas territories.

1. He has always been a real-estate speculator and with global warming, no doubt sees an entire island once denuded of its ice as prime property upon which to build.
2. He thinks it actually is green like in golf greens.
3. He can’t understand how little Denmark can own such a big island while the United States has such little ones.
4. He wants to erect a big toll booth across to Norway to stop China and Russia from sailing by without paying him.
5. He figures considering its size at 2.1 million square kilometers (811,000 square miles) he couldn’t find this many potential lots at a cheaper price.
6. With 56,000 total population, he can get all of its citizens into a single stadium venue to hold one of his rallies.

But seriously, Greenland is undergoing more significant changes than almost anywhere else on the planet. It’s greening up as its glaciers are melting in proximity to a warming ocean and a warming atmosphere (the global warming Chinese hoax according to Trump).

Its strategic location in the North Atlantic is similar to that of Iceland for the Americans in the Second World War where it was described as a giant aircraft carrier, halfway between the European military theatre, the Russian front, and North America.

And it may be that the Greenland bug may have been put in the President’s ear by Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State, or by one of his Pentagon generals, who wish to see the country’s military presence increase on the island.

Currently, the U.S. as a guest of Denmark leases the Thule Air Base, some 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, a vestige of the Cold War with the former Soviet Union.

But it is more likely that the USSR’s successor, Russia, is front of mind when it comes to strategic positioning in the Arctic.

And then there is China. and China back in 2017 almost agreed on a contract to have the latter build three airports in Greenland. The U.S. persuaded the Danes not to proceed.

Today, China has observer status on the Arctic Council, an assembly of nations that touch the Arctic Ocean. The Chinese have no territory upon which to make a northern claim, although if they copy their island building in the South China Sea, might consider building an artificial island upon which to plant their flag.

China has also been making their own Arctic forays sending a merchant ship through the Northeast Passage in 2013. And recently, they entered into an agreement with Russia to develop the northern sea route as a shortcut to the Atlantic Ocean and Europe. That would mean Chinese and Russian vessels would be navigating the waters of Greenland in the years to come.

This may explain why Pompeo at a recent Arctic Council challenged Canada’s sovereign claim to the Northwest Passage, a route through the Arctic Archipelago that today is open for several months every year. The Secretary of State, at the time, called Canada’s ownership “illegitimate.” Maybe the Americans want to do what China is doing with Russia but on the western side of the Arctic pond.

So far, according to the government of Denmark, Greenland is not for sale, but rather, open for business. If the Danes were to sell the island to the U.S. it would save them almost $600 million annually, the current subsidy Denmark pays to support the 57,000 who live there.

When William Seward, the American Secretary of State, negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, at the time it was referred to as “Seward’s Folly.” Why folly? Alaska was seen as a giant ice field with little in the way of commercial opportunity. And as a consequence of the Alaska Purchase, Great Britain and its North America colonies united to create the Dominion of Canada, a counterweight to the United States in North America, and an assurance that the Northwest Territories under British sovereignty would not be swallowed up by American manifest destiny. Gold, and then oil made Alaska no more a folly, and eventually, it became the 49th state.

Not that Trump knows the history of the Alaska purchase, but one could imagine with his real estate background, that grabbing new territory for his Make America Great Again (MAGA) campaign would go over well with his base. No doubt if it were to happen, Nuuk, the current capital of the island would be renamed Trump City and the territory government’s administrative building would be capped with a golden dome.