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Published 11:54 IST, August 21st 2019

Donald Trump cancels Denmark trip on PM's refusal to sell Greenland

US President Donald Trump announced that he would not be visiting Denmark to meet Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen over her refusal to sell Greenland

Reported by: Aishwaria Sonavane
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US President Donald Trump announced that he would not be visiting Denmark to meet Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen over her refusal to sell Greenland to the United States. 

In a tweet, Donald Trump expressed his displeasure through twitter, wherein he announced that he would be postponing the meet, over Greenland. 

"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 scheduled in two weeks for another time," Trump tweeted.

"The Prime Minister was able to save a great deal of expense and effort for both the United States and Denmark by being so direct. I thank her for that and look forward to rescheduling sometime in the future!" the US president wrote.

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Donald Trump's interest to buy Greenland

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Trump had expressed interest in the self-governing part of Denmark -- which is mostly covered in ice -- asking advisors if it would be possible for the US to acquire the territory.

Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that he was indeed interested in buying Greenland, but said it was not a priority for his administration.

"It's something we talked about," he told reporters.

"The concept came up and I said certainly, strategically it's interesting and we'd be interested, but we'll talk to (Denmark) a little bit," he said, stressing that it was "not number one on the burner" for the government.

When asked if he would consider trading a US territory for Greenland, Trump replied that "a lot of things could be done." "Essentially, it's a large real estate deal," Donald Trump said.

Denmark colonized the 772,000 square-mile (two-million square kilometer) island in the 18th century. It is home to only about 57,000 people, most of whom belong to the indigenous Inuit community.

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Greenland's ministry of foreign affairs insisted Friday the island was ready to talk business but was not for sale.

"Greenland is rich invaluable resources such as minerals, the purest water and ice, fish stocks, seafood, renewable energy and is a new frontier for adventure tourism," it tweeted.

"We're open for business, not for sale," it added. 

Over the Greenland row, in an amusing tweet on August 20, Donald Trump posted a photo-shopped picture of the Trump Tower in Greenland, and said, "I promise not to do this to Greenland!" 

Updated 12:14 IST, August 21st 2019