Q&A of the Day – Is It Possible to Buy Greenland?
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Today’s Entry: Brian, while you’re talking about Trump's idea to rename the Gulf of Mexico...how about telling us if it's possible and what it would take to buy Greenland.
Bottom Line: You’ve got it. This one is quite the onion. Of all of President Trump’s newly floated geopolitical ideas from renaming the Gulf of Mexico, to the Gulf of America to reclaiming the Panama Canal, and perhaps Canada becoming the 51st state, the one that’s seemingly captured the most attention and intrigue is the prospect of making a bid to buy Greenland. A prospect that gained additional attention when Donald Trump Jr. took an informal trip to Greenland’s capitol last week. The US last undertook a territorial expansion in 1947 when the Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands and Mariana Islands became US territories. So, what would have to happen in order for the US to buy Greenland? The dynamic in play here is more nuanced and perhaps a bit more plausible than many may think.
News reporting on Trump’s idea to buy Greenland has largely centered on Denmark’s response. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s response to the idea was this: Greenland is not for sale and will not be in the future either. That would seemingly put an end to the conversation if it were so straight forward...but it isn’t. Key to this conversation is that Denmark doesn’t “own” Greenland anymore. Greenland’s timeline goes like this:
- Until 1953: Danish Colony
- 1953-1979: Danish territory
- 1979-Present: Home rule
To add a little clarity to that evolution... Until 1953 Greenland was to Denmark what the 13 original colonies were to what became the United States. For about 26 years Greenland effectively became a state of Denmark. Since 1979, Greenland has had government autonomy from Denmark. This includes the ability to have their own parliament, prime minister, anthem and flag. What’s more is that the independence was expanded under law in 2008. Greenland controls education, taxation, mining, aviation, family law and immigration law – though it does still rely on Denmark for military considerations. It’s a bit of a unique arrangement. The arrangement is similar to some US territories but is different in classification. The governmental term of the arrangement is that Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Basically, what’s happened here is that Greenland operates in a sovereign way except for areas where it doesn’t want to... a la attempting to account for a military which would be a futile effort for an island with a population of 56,789 people, or less than the Town of Jupiter’s population for ease of comparison. The biggest obvious governmental divide that exists is this... Denmark is a member of the European Union. Greenland is not. That’s how much autonomy they have in making their own governmental decisions.
Notably, Greenland’s Prime Minister last year in an address said this: (Greenland has to take) a step forward and shape its own future. That likely wasn’t lost on President Trump. Over the weekend he said this: Greenland is for the Greenlandic people. We do not want to be Danish, we do not want to be American. We want to be Greenlandic. That’s a significant statement because he’s effectively positioning Denmark and the United States on similar footing. Greenland’s Prime Minister has long been critical of Denmark’s influence which further opens the door to dialogue. When asked what his thoughts were about Trump’s expressed interest in buying the island he said: (That with Greenland being a North American continent): (It’s) a place that the Americans see as part of their world. And that he’s open to dialogue with Trump about “what unites us”.
So, what would have to happen to buy Greenland? That’s a good question. And there appear to be two lanes. As it sits now – with Greenland still accepting of its “semi-autonomous” status, any negotiation would have to involve Denmark as they still have established ties in the areas Greenland outsources to Denmark as a lose consideration as part of their kingdom. If, however, Greenland were to fully severe ties – which they appear to have the lawful ability to do... It would then be a negotiation between Greenland’s government and the Trump administration.
If you’re wondering why, if Greenland is publicly stating that they don’t want to be part of Denmark, and they have the ability to seek full independence but don’t... I mentioned that Greenland relies on Denmark militarily. That is the real tie that binds here. And it’s not really about Denmark’s military support being thrown behind Greenland either. It’s that Denmark is a NATO country, meaning that as long as it allows a territorial connection with Denmark, they benefit from the full protection of NATO – which is of course is led by the United States. That complicates matters as it pertains to any serious inquiries about a sale of the island. There’s not an inherent incentive for them to want to sell if they want to retain the level of autonomy they currently have to govern. Money talks though...right? The bottom line is that an attempted purchase of Greenland is especially complicated, and thus unlikely, however it’s not as implausible as many in MSM reporting seem to suggest.