The idea of ​​Trump that creates the surprise: which country he wants to buy

WASHINGTON It seems that the president

Donald Trump

He wants to leave his mark on the American map. And not just to be the president of

United States

. According to the Wall Street Journal, this gives the idea to buy the largest island in the world.

The idea of ​​buying Greenland by the United States has captured the imagination of the former real estate developer and president, according to people familiar with the discussions, who reportedly said that Trump, with more or less seriousness, had repeatedly expressed interest in buying the Danish Autonomous Territory covered with ice. , located between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean.

Greenland has an area of ​​2 175 600 km2 (Australia is larger but is considered a continent) and nearly 80% of its area is covered by ice all year round; It has only 57,000 inhabitants, mainly concentrated on the coast.

In meetings, dinners and conversations, Trump asked several councilors if the United States could acquire Greenland, listened with interest to their abundant natural resources and geopolitical importance and, according to two of those present in the dialogues, asked a White House lawyer to investigate the idea.

Some of his advisers backed Trump's idea, saying it was a good economic coup, said two of them, while others have described it as an ephemeral fascination that will never materialize. It is also unclear how the United States would buy Greenland even if the effort was serious.

Greenland is an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark and, although its government decides most of its internal affairs, Copenhagen is responsible for foreign policy and security. Trump is due to make his first visit to Denmark early next month, although the trip is not linked to the problem, sources said. Until now, neither the White House nor Denmark have referred to the Wall Street Journal publication.

antecedents

It would not be the first time that an American president thinks about buying the largest island in the world. In 1946, the United States offered to buy the Danish Arctic Island in Denmark for $ 100 million, after flirting with the idea of ​​exchanging land in Alaska for strategic parties. from Greenland.

US officials believe that Greenland is important to the country's national security interests. A decades-old defense treaty between Denmark and the United States grants the United States Army virtually unlimited rights to Greenland at the northernmost base of the United States: the Thule Air Base. Located 1,200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, it includes a radar station as part of a rapid warning system for ballistic missiles in the United States.

The base is also used by US Space Air Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command.

The United States tried to frustrate China's efforts to establish itself economically in Greenland. The Pentagon has worked successfully in 2018 to prevent China from funding three airports on the island.

Following the effects of climate change,
Last month, the acceleration of the melting of the island ice cap caused a mbadive loss of Arctic ice. In July, 197 million tons of ice were lost in total, said Ruth Mottram, a climatologist at the Danish Meteorological Institute.

AP Agency