Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Kevin Dietsch
Topics: Donald Trump, Greenland, Politics, Twitter, World News
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Donald Trump, Greenland, Politics, Twitter, World News
A tweet of Donald Trump's posted in 2019 has resurfaced in the wake of his most recent plans to acquire Greenland.
If you've been keeping up with world politics of late, you'll know that Trump is trying to buy Greenland but the territory, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, has made its feelings on the matter very clear.
Greenland's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a statement: "Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed by the United States. Greenland does not want to be part of the United States."
Even if Greenland did want to be bought, it would cost the US a pretty penny. It's estimated that it would cost around $700 billion to acquire the 800,000 square meter island, says NBC.
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While Trump has insisted that he wants to purchase Greenland for the purpose of national security, back in 2019, he played down his plans as being a 'real estate deal'.
"Denmark essentially owns it," he said of Greenland and the idea of buying it back in August 2019, per The Guardian.
"We’re very good allies with Denmark, we protect Denmark like we protect large portions of the world. So the concept came up and I said, ‘Certainly I’d be.’ Strategically it’s interesting and we’d be interested but we’ll talk to them a little bit. It’s not No.1 on the burner, I can tell you that."
Trump went on to say that acquiring the territory would essentially be 'a large real estate deal'.
He further alleged at the time that Denmark owning Greenland was 'hurting' the country 'because they’re losing almost $700m a year carrying it'.
"So they carry it at a great loss and strategically for the United States it would be very nice and we’re a big ally of Denmark, we protect Denmark and we help Denmark and we will," Trump went on.
Shortly after he made these comments, Trump took to Twitter to share a photo of Greenland with a large, gold Trump Tower on it. He wrote alongside the image: "I promise not to do this to Greenland!"
Some people found the tweet amusing, while several others didn't see the funny side of things.
In the wake of his latest attempts to acquire the large island Greenlanders have shared how they personally feel about the idea of being owned by the US.
"We are not a business, we are a people," Greenland MP Nivi Rosing said, adding: "I know Donald Trump is a businessman, but Greenland is not a product. We're a people and should be taken very seriously and that should be respected."