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President Trump confirmed Sunday his interest in the potential purchase of Greenland, but said it was not a priority.
"It would be good for the United States strategically," Trump told reporters. He said publicly for the first time that he was talking about acquiring Greenland in Denmark, as reported for the first time the Wall Street Journal last week. "It's essentially an important real estate transaction," said the president, a former real estate developer.
Trump, who described Denmark as an important ally, added: "It's not No. 1 on fire."
The newspaper reported on Thursday that the US president had asked advisors if the US government could buy Greenland, thereby demonstrating its interest in its abundant resources and geopolitical importance.
Greenland is an autonomous Danish territory. While the Greenland government controls most domestic affairs, foreign and security policy is managed by Copenhagen.
It is unclear how the United States would like to acquire Greenland, and officials in Greenland and Denmark have rejected the idea in recent days.
"Of course, Greenland is not for sale," Steve Sandgreen, secretary of Greenland's Prime Minister Kim Kielsen, said in an email Friday.
The president seemed to signal that his planned trip to Denmark early next month was not a sure thing. "I'm not going to go," he says.
Earlier on Sunday, Lawrence Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, said the president was turning to Greenland. "Denmark is an ally," he said. "Greenland is a strategic place there and they have a lot of valuable minerals."
"I do not want to predict it now. I'm just saying that the president, who is very familiar with the purchase of real estate, wants to look at a potential purchase for Greenland, "Kudlow said in an interview with Fox News Sunday, adding that the question was "in development. He was the first White House official to publicly confirm the report.
Mr. Kudlow noted that President Harry Truman had offered to buy Greenland in Denmark for $ 100 million in 1946.
The United States bought the Virgin Islands in Denmark in 1917.
Write to Andrew Restuccia at [email protected]
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