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<\/a><\/p>\nBy Nicole Darrah | Fox News<\/p>\n
The\u00a0United States<\/a>‘ reported interest in buying\u00a0Greenland<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Denmark<\/a>\u00a0is “absurd” and the fjord-lined\u00a0island is\u00a0not for sale, according to Danish Prime Minister\u00a0Mette Frederiksen.<\/p>\n Then again, that’s what any savvy negotiator\u00a0would<\/em>\u00a0say.<\/p>\n “Greenland is not Danish. Greenland is Greenlandic. I persistently hope that this is not something that is seriously meant,” Frederiksen told\u00a0reporters<\/a>\u00a0Sunday during a trip to meet Kim Kielsen, the premier of Greenland.<\/p>\n The country, which is a semi-autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic with a population of around 56,000 people, is not on the market, Frederiksen said.<\/p>\n Her remarks come after\u00a0the Wall Street Journal<\/a>\u00a0reported last week\u00a0President Trump<\/a>\u00a0was interested in buying the country from Denmark. Trump reportedly asked his advisers\u00a0about acquiring the island during \u201cmeetings, dinners\u00a0and passing conversations\u201d because of Greenland’s \u201cabundant resources and geopolitical importance.\u201d<\/p>\n Danish Prime Minister\u00a0Mette Frederiksen said Sunday a conversation about the U.S. possibly buying Greenland is “absurd.”(Getty Images\/AP Photo)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Speaking to reporters in\u00a0New Jersey<\/a>\u00a0on Sunday, Trump described the idea as “a large\u00a0real estate<\/a>\u00a0deal.”<\/p>\n “A lot of\u00a0things can be done.\u00a0It\u2019s hurting Denmark very badly\u00a0because they’re losing almost\u00a0$700 million a year carrying it,” he said.\u00a0“So, they carry it at great loss, and strategically for the United\u00a0States, it would be nice. And, we’re a big ally of Denmark and we\u00a0help Denmark, and we protect\u00a0Denmark.”<\/p>\n Trump said he’s interested in the idea, but it’s not a top priority for him or\u00a0his administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n Frederiksen, who became prime minister June 27, was on a planned two-day trip to Greenland before traveling to nearby Iceland for a meeting of the Nordic prime ministers.<\/p>\n “Thankfully, the time where you buy and sell other countries and populations is over. Let’s leave it there. Jokes aside, we will, of course, love to have an even closer strategic relationship with the United States,” Frederiksen said, noting that the Arctic, with resources that Russia and others could exploit for commercial gain, “is becoming increasingly important to the entire world community.”<\/p>\n Trump, who is scheduled to visit Denmark for two days starting Sept. 2 as part of a larger European trip, wouldn’t be the first American leader to try to buy Greenland, the world’s largest island. The U.S. proposed in 1946 to pay Denmark $100 million\u00a0to buy Greenland after toying\u00a0with the idea of swapping land in\u00a0Alaska<\/a>\u00a0for strategic parts of the Arctic island.<\/p>\n Under a 1951 deal, Denmark allowed the U.S. to build bases and radar stations on Greenland.<\/p>\n<\/picture><\/div>\n