Ever since President Trump announced his interest in a U.S. acquisition of Greenland, leftist media at home and abroad have reacted with a mixture of vicious mockery and hysterical indignation. The media frenzy reached new heights shortly before the Davos WEF meeting this January due to Trump’s strong rhetoric.
This rhetoric is part of Trump’s “art-of-the-deal” tactics as a powerful negotiator. Despite the leftist hysteria, however, the Greenland deal framework that is already underway is a testament to the recognition of the strategic importance of the island both for U.S. and European defense. This is also supported by the bare facts, which anti-American media outlets routinely ignore. It would be helpful to summarize these facts.
The official interest of the United States in acquiring Greenland is nothing new — it goes back over 150 years, when, after the purchase of Alaska in 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward emphasized Greenland’s desirable natural resources and strategic ports. A precedent was provided in 1917, when the United States purchased from Denmark the West Indies and renamed them “U.S. Virgin Islands.”