A new book revealed that while former President Donald Trump had his sights set on a massive international real estate deal for Greenland, he considered trading Puerto Rico for the Danish territory.
Trump eyed Greenland during his early White House days and considered pulling federal money from Puerto Rico or outright trading the island territory for Greenland, according to the book The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021. Although it is not clear if Trump offered Puerto Rico to Denmark, his bid to purchase the frosty island failed in 2019.
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“I love maps. And I always said: ‘Look at the size of this. It’s massive. That should be part of the United States,’” Trump said during an interview for the book, per the New York Times. The book was written by married reporter couple Peter Baker and Susan Glasser. They interviewed Trump in April and November of last year.
The endeavor to snag Greenland was supported by Ronald Lauder, a cosmetics heir who has been acquainted with Trump since college, according to the book. Lauder reportedly offered to act as an intermediary between the U.S. and Denmark.
While some in Trump’s orbit dismissed Trump’s fixation on Greenland as a mere passing amusement of the former president, others took steps to consider it. John Bolton, the national security adviser at the time, told his aide to contemplate ideas on how to obtain Greenland, according to the book.
Bolton felt Greenland could serve as a crucial counter to China in the Arctic region even if purchasing it was not possible, per the book. Interest in Greenland culminated in 2019 when Denmark’s prime minister shrugged off talk of selling Greenland as “absurd.” Feeling snubbed, Trump canceled a trip to Denmark in response.
“Denmark is a very special country with incredible people, but based on Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time,” Trump tweeted at the time.
Social media users quickly dredged up an old clip of 2016 GOP presidential contender Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) fretting that Trump may one day nuke Denmark if he assumed the presidency.
Ted Cruz predicted in 2016 that Donald Trump would nuke Denmark if the “Twitterer in chief” became president https://t.co/dYQcWVcel1 pic.twitter.com/OQObDrswd8
— Matt Novak (@paleofuture) August 21, 2019
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Trump reportedly belittled Puerto Rico as “dirty,” a former Department of Homeland Security official claimed in 2020, and the former president faced condemnation for his response to Hurricane Maria pummeling Puerto Rico in 2017.
The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021 is slated for publication next Tuesday. The book also revealed that Trump ruled out having former Vice President Mike Pence as his running mate in a hypothetical 2024 race.
