WASHINGTON — Two days after he said buying Greenland wasn’t a top priority, President Donald Trump canceled an upcoming trip to Denmark after its prime minister dismissed the idea.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had called Trump’s musing about buying Greenland, which her government owns, “an absurd discussion” after the former real estate mogul began to talk up the idea.
Trump said Sunday that he was interested in such a deal for strategic purposes, but said a purchase was not a priority at this time. “It’s not No. 1 on the burner,” he told reporters.
Trump even joked about his proposal as it came in for ridicule, tweeting a doctored photo of a glistening Trump skyscraper looming over a small village in the Arctic territory.
“I promise not to do this to Greenland,” he joked Monday. But on Tuesday, Trump abruptly canceled the visit, also by tweet. Trump wrote: “Denmark is a very special country with incredible people, but 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.”