WASHINGTON — Aiming to put his mark on the world map, President Donald Trump has talked to aides and allies about buying Greenland for the U.S.
In a story first reported by The Wall Street Journal, real-estate mogul Trump reportedly asked advisers whether the deal can be done and requested his White House counsel look into it.
Citing people familiar with the discussions, some of Trump's advisers backed the idea, saying it was a good economic move. Others, however, said it would never come to pass.
Still, it wouldn't be the first time an American leader tried to buy the world's largest island, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
In 1946, the U.S. proposed to pay Denmark $100 million to buy Greenland after flirting with the idea of swapping land in Alaska for strategic parts of the Arctic island.
The Journal cited someone who was at a dinner last spring where Trump said someone had told him that Denmark was having financial trouble over its aid to Greenland, and someone had told him he should buy the island.
“What do you guys think about that?” he asked, according to the source. “Do you think it would work?”
A Trump ally told The Associated Press on Thursday that the president had discussed the purchase but was not serious about it. The ally spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Neither the White House nor Denmark immediately commented on Thursday.