US President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday his interest in buying Greenland in Denmark. A contingency he called a "big real estate transaction", but said it was not a priority for the United States.
Not "the number one priority"
"This is something we talked about," Donald Trump told reporters. "The concept has come up and I said that strategically, it's certainly interesting and that we would be interested, but we will talk a little bit" with Denmark, continued the president, adding that it was not "the priority number a "for his government. The business daily The Wall Street Journal wrote Thursday that the US president had "repeatedly shown interest in the purchase" of the territory and told his advisers in the White House.
"For the United States, it would be nice"
Asked by reporters about the possibility of exchanging Greenland for US territory, Donald Trump replied that "a lot can be done". "Essentially, it's a big real estate transaction," he said. The gigantic Arctic island "is doing a lot of harm in Denmark because they are losing about $ 700 million each year to maintain it ... And strategically, for the United States, it would be nice," said the President.
Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953, when it entered the Danish "Kingdom Community". In 1979, the island obtained the status of "autonomous territory", but its economy still depends heavily on the subsidies paid by Copenhagen.