US President Donald Trump has asked his advisers at the White House to find out if it is possible to buy Greenland from Denmark , several US media reported Thursday.

This information indicates that Trump has mentioned the issue several times in recent weeks during meetings and dinners.

'The Washington Post' said that the White House has already discussed the legality of the hypothetical purchase, the process to incorporate a territory with its own government and also where the money for the acquisition would come from.

The CNN network, meanwhile, noted that Trump, a billionaire who made his fortune in real estate development, has asked White House lawyer Pat Cipollone to study the possibility.

Both media commented that Trump's advisors are divided between those who believe that the president is serious about buying Greenland, and those who believe that it is a passing whim.

The media versions do not clarify the reason why Trump would be interested in buying Greenland, although some speculate on his natural resources and others on his geostrategic importance because of his proximity to the Arctic.

Greenland is an island located in North America, northeast of Canada, and covered by ice on 75% of its surface.

Its 2.1 million square kilometers make it the largest island in the world, although inhabited by only about 56,000 people, mostly of Inuit ethnicity.

Politically, Greenland belongs to Denmark, although it is an autonomous territory that since 2009 manages all powers except foreign policy, defense and monetary policy.

The United States occupied Greenland in 1941 to avoid a possible Nazi invasion of the island after the Germans occupied Denmark, a situation that lasted until the end of the war in 1945.

In 1951, the United States built the strategic Thule Area Base in Greenland, which became especially important during the Cold War.

Trump would not be the first American president to try to buy Greenland, since, according to the 'Post', Harry Truman (1945-1953) offered Denmark 100 million dollars for the island after the Second World War.

The reactions in Denmark have not been long in coming. Politicians in this country have received this news with sneer and wonder if it is not a joke.

"It must be a joke on April 1 completely out of season," the former Danish Prime Minister and current opposition leader, the liberal Lars Løkke Rasmussen, said on the social network Twitter, referring to the Saxon tradition on that date. "If it is true that you are thinking about that, it is a definite sign that you have gone crazy. I have to say it as it is: the idea of ​​Denmark selling 50,000 citizens to the United States is a complete madness," said Søren Espersen, spokesman at Foreign Affairs of the Danish People's Party, third parliamentary force.

His counterpart of the Social Liberal Party - fourth force in the House and ally of the Social Democratic Government - Martin Lidegaard, was hopeful that it was a "joke", because otherwise it would be a "terrible" idea that would mean a loss of autonomy for the Greenlanders and a possible militarization of the island.

"I say 'no, thanks' to buying Greenland, it is better to strengthen the relationship with Denmark. It should also be noted that it is not a good that can be sold," said Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, one of the two Greenlandic deputies in the Danish Parliament.

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