Trump To Skip Visiting Denmark After Prime Minister Says Greenland 'Not For Sale'

President Trump says he will put off a planned visit to Denmark after the country's prime minister made it clear that she has no intention of selling Greenland to the U.S., calling the idea "absurd."

In a Tuesday night tweet, the president said Denmark is "a very special country with incredible people," but added; "based on Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting ..."

He said he would reschedule his visit and thanked Frederiksen for saving "a great deal of expense for both the United States and Denmark by being so direct."

Earlier this week, Trump confirmed a story first reported in The Wall Street Journalthat he had asked aides to look into the idea of buying Greenland, a self-governing Danish overseas territory.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, he compared the idea to "a large real estate deal" and said "it's something we've talked about." He suggested that the island, which is financially reliant on Denmark, had become a burden for Copenhagen and that it was "strategically interesting" to the United States.

In a tweet on Monday, the president posted a digitally altered photo of a golden Trump Tower superimposed on a seaside village with the caption, "I promise not to do this to Greenland!"

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https://www.npr.org/2019/08/21/752989771/trump-to-skip-visiting-denmark-after-prime-minister-says-greenland-not-for-sale