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This article is more than 1 year old

Donald Trump was “crazy like a fox” when he floated the idea of buying Greenland because the move would secure vital strategic interests for the US, a leading presidential ally in the Senate insisted on Monday.

Trump’s bid to buy Greenland shows that the ‘scramble for the Arctic’ is truly upon us Read more

In an opinion column for the New York Times, the Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton wrote: “After news leaked last week that President Trump had expressed interest in acquiring Greenland from Denmark, his critics predictably derided him as crazy. But once again, the president is crazy like a fox.

“The acquisition of Greenland would secure vital strategic interests for the United States, economically benefit both us and Greenlanders, and would be in keeping with American – and Danish – diplomatic traditions.”

US-Danish diplomacy took a pasting over Trump’s interest, the American president responding to the Danish prime minister’s dismissal of the idea as “absurd” by cancelling a visit planned for September.

This weekend the issue dogged Trump’s footsteps in Biarritz, where he attended the G7 summit.

Cotton, a former soldier, is a leading foreign policy hawk and a member of the Senate armed services, budget and intelligence committees.

In the Times, he noted the US military presence at Thule airbase in Greenland and attempts to build airports on the island by China, a country which occupies a central piece in Trump’s thoughts and US foreign policy. Those attempts “failed only after intense lobbying of the Danes by the Trump administration”, he said.

“Beijing understands not only Greenland’s geographic importance but also its economic potential,” Cotton wrote.

“Greenland is rich in a wide array of mineral deposits, including rare-earth minerals,” he added, pointing out – as many experts have – that the island “also possesses untold reserves of oil and natural gas”.

Trump described the mooted purchase as “essentially a real estate deal” but plans to build a US consulate in Greenland, reported at the weekend, have long been in train. Major powers are jockeying for access to resources expected to become accessible thanks to the climate crisis.

This weekend Nils Wang, a former head of the Danish navy, told the Sunday Times: “Trump’s approach may be wacky but it does send a serious message to Russia and China – don’t mess with us on Greenland. This is a complete game-changer.”

In the aftermath of Trump’s comments, Greenlanders largely expressed opposition to a US purchase and ridicule for the president pondering it.

I believe many find the real estate thought for buying a whole country absurd Qivioq Kreutzmann

One, Qivioq Kreutzmann of Nuuk, told the Guardian: “A local cartoonist, Roberth Holmene, made a comment with Inuits building an igloo saying: ‘You go tell Mr Trump that I’m building the only god damn white house we want in Greenland.’

“I believe many find the real estate thought for buying a whole country absurd.”

In turn, Trump has voiced familiar grumbles about Danish ingratitude for US protection through Nato.

Cotton said “an agreement to transfer Greenland’s sovereignty must also serve the interests of our good friends, the Danes, and the 56,000 Greenlanders as well.

“Their considerations ought to include the fact that despite Greenland’s long-term potential, a lack of infrastructure and financing still hamstring the island’s economy today. Greenland’s economy is less than one-tenth of Vermont’s, America’s smallest state economy.”

He also repeated an argument advanced by Trump, that Greenland is financially costly for Denmark, and offered a contrast to a US purchase made in 1867: “Just look at what American sovereignty has meant to Alaskans compared with conditions in Siberia under Russian control.”

Like most who have written about Trump’s plans, the senator noted other US purchases including Louisiana (1807, from France), Florida (1819, from Spain) and the US Virgin Islands (1917, from Denmark), as well as Harry Truman’s failed attempt to buy Greenland in 1946.

“Who today believes the acquisition of Alaska was ‘Seward’s folly’?” he asked, referring to secretary of state William Seward, who oversaw that purchase under Andrew Johnson.