Trump may pitch the purchase of Greenland to the Danes.

To be sure, there would be certain advantages to owning Greenland, the two main ones being military and scientific. A decades-old defense treaty between Denmark and the US gives the military virtually unlimited rights. America has used those rights to build its northernmost base, Thule Air Base, located 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The base includes a radar station that is part of an ICBM early warning system. The base is also used by the US Air Force Space Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

There is also - not surprisingly - a race for supremacy with China over the island's future. So far, Washington has prevented Beijing from financing three airports on Greenland that would give it a toehold on the strategically important island - which is also the world's largest by square mileage - something the US military refuses to risk.

To be fair to Trump, US interest in owning Greenland dates back more than a century. After WWII, Harry Truman offered Denmark $100 million for the island which, though it's technically part of North America, is culturally European. The Kingdom refused. The State Department also explored buying Greenland and Iceland in 1867, but nothing came of it.

It would be a funny coincidence if, after making his name as a developer on Manhattan, perhaps the world's most famous island, Trump cemented his legacy as a president by buying Greenland, the world's biggest island.

Or perhaps Trump only became president to land the world's biggest real estate deal?

Finally, for those asking what's the tentative price for this particular real estate...

Matt Lee

✔@APDiploWriter

If you have to ask, you can’t afford it...

5

3:27 PM - Aug 15, 2019

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