Trump cancels Denmark trip

WASHINGTON—After Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen rebuffed his suggestion of buying Greenland, President Donald Trump on Tuesday decided not to visit her country. He tweeted that because Frederiksen “would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time.”

Was Trump serious about obtaining Greenland? The decision to cancel the state visit to Denmark suggests his interest in the island, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, ran deeper than he let on. He told reporters Sunday that “essentially, it’s a large real estate deal.” He added that Denmark is “losing almost $700 million a year carrying it.” The United States has an air base on the island, and it has strategic significance because of its location between North America and northern Europe. But Frederiksen told a television reporter Sunday, “The time where you buy and sell other countries and populations is over.”

Dig deeper: Read Michael Cochrane’s report from WORLD’s archives about the military and energy importance of the Arctic.