The leader of Greenland condemned President Trump after he tweeted out a photo of Trump Tower dwarfing a small village in the Danish territory.
Greenland Premier Kim Kielsen told the Associated Press at a Tuesday meeting that Trump’s idea of possibly trying to purchase the semi-autonomous island “is not something to joke about.”
The comment came a day after Trump tweeted out a photo of a large, golden skyscraper superimposed over what appeared to be a small village on the Greenland coast. The president captioned the photo, “I promise not to do this to Greenland!”
[Opinion: Buying Greenland isn’t a good idea — it’s a great idea]
I promise not to do this to Greenland! pic.twitter.com/03DdyVU6HA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2019
It was reported last week that Trump had, “with varying levels of seriousness,” discussed with advisers the viability of purchasing the land mass, which has been subject to Denmark since 1814. In response, Greenland’s foreign minister Ane Lone Bagger said that the island is “not for sale.”
Trump clarified Sunday that purchasing the island is an interesting concept but is not his top priority.
“Essentially it’s a large real estate deal,” Trump said. “A lot of things could be done. It’s hurting Denmark because they’re losing almost $700 million a year carrying it. So they carry it at a great loss. And strategically, for the United States it would be nice.”
“Greenland, it got released somehow,” the president went on. “It’s something we talked about. Denmark essentially owns it. We’re very good allies with Denmark. We protect Denmark like we protect large portions of the world,” he continued. “So the concept came up, and I said, ‘Certainly, I’d be.’ Strategically, it’s interesting, and we’d be interested, but we’ll talk to them a little bit. It’s not number one on the burner.”
