Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on Thursday confirmed that the US was now not all in favour of shopping for Greenland, scuttling for good a quixotic 2019 proposal by the Trump administration to annex the self-governing Danish territory.
“I can affirm that’s right,” Mr. Blinken mentioned throughout an look in Greenland with Danish officers and the premier of Greenland, Mute Egede, in response to a reporter who requested him to “definitively say that the US doesn’t search to purchase Greenland.” Earlier within the day, the secretary of state toured the territory and met privately with the premier to debate “bilateral trade and investment.”
Mr. Blinken’s temporary remarks closed the e book on a weird episode in U.S. international coverage. The Wall Avenue Journal had first reported in August 2019 that President Donald J. Trump had repeatedly requested aides to pursue a purchase order of Greenland, partly to take advantage of the territory’s plentiful pure assets. Mr. Trump’s advisers have been highly skeptical of the idea, however agreed to research the matter.
Information of Mr. Trump’s curiosity in annexing Greenland shortly turned the butt of jokes online, whereas receiving a chilly reception each from residents of the semiautonomous territory and among Danish leadership, who took umbrage on the then-president’s suggestion that the territory might be purchased as, basically, “a big actual property deal.”
“Greenland just isn’t on the market,” Mette Frederiksen, the prime minister of Denmark, instructed a Danish newspaper on the time. “Greenland just isn’t Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland. I strongly hope that this isn’t meant critically.”
Mr. Trump, angered on the Danish response to his thought, abruptly canceled a diplomatic visit to Denmark and described Ms. Frederiksen as “nasty,” sparking an international incident.
“All they needed to do is say, ‘No, we’d reasonably not try this’ or ‘We’d reasonably not discuss it,’” Mr. Trump mentioned to reporters on the day he canceled the journey. “Don’t say, ‘What an absurd thought that’s.’”
Pele Broberg, Greenland’s international minister, alluded to the diplomatic rupture throughout his look with Mr. Blinken on Thursday.
“We are going to underscore this isn’t thought-about an actual property deal,” Mr. Broberg mentioned of talks with U.S. officers, quoting Mr. Trump. “Secretary Blinken has made it very clear that he’s right here for the folks residing within the Arctic, for the folks residing in Greenland.”
