
Trump Wants to Buy Greenland - big_chungus
http://wsj.com/articles/trump-eyes-a-new-real-estate-purchase-greenland-11565904223?mod=rsswn
======
apo
> The U.S. has sought to derail Chinese efforts to gain an economic foothold
> in Greenland. The Pentagon worked successfully in 2018 to block China from
> financing three airports on the island.

This is where the story takes a dark turn.

Global warming and the reduction of arctic sea ice is making this marginally
interesting place more interesting all the time. In 10-20 years Greenland
could become the center of a power struggle among countries seeking to obtain
it.

Would the US allow China or Russia, for example to buy it? No need to sell the
whole thing, either - how about a few tens of thousands of square miles? What
if countries started pressuring Denmark to part with some or all of Greenland
through various channels?

How would such advances be perceived by the US and how far would the US go to
prevent it?

Of all the crazy ways for WWIII to start, a land grab over Greenland would be
one of the strangest - at least from today's vantage point. But in just a few
years, Greenland could become a flashpoint in world politics.

Also, why was this story flagged?

~~~
big_chungus
> Also, why was this story flagged?

Lord if I know... it seems like it fits all guidelines, and I've seen no
comments that object to the story itself.

Paging dang... unflag please?

~~~
nkurz
I'd recommend sending a short email making your case to 'hn@ycombinator.com'.
You're more likely to get a response while the story is still young. "Paging"
comments are hit or miss, while incoming email is better monitored.

~~~
big_chungus
Good suggestion; thanks. Sent.

------
andrewstuart
No one will be buying it - there will be a war to take it over and mine its
resources.

Our glorious future, in which climate change turns into an opportunity for
resources companies to dig stuff out of the earth.

Watch carefully for the expansion of research bases in Antarctica to be
expanded and militarised.

From here there will be a large set of public opinion that comes to see the
ice covering Greenland and Antarctica as simply an obstacle to commercial
opportunity, who see global heating as being a strong positive.

This is the beginning of that narrative.

Depressing.

~~~
LyndsySimon
I understand where you're coming from with this, and empathize with your
perspective to a degree - but I have a lot more faith in humanity and free
enterprise than you seem to.

Yes, if climate change models are remotely accurate, Greenland will become
much more valuable and will attract commercial interests. I see this as a
_good_ thing, though - humanity will adapt to changing conditions. Individuals
and communities will be impacted, some in positive and some in negative ways.

In short, I wouldn't see this as "now people get an opportunity to fuck up
this place, too" \- I see it as "the loss of natural resources in some places
is offset by their gain in others".

------
maxcan
Smart move..

Step 1) Buy large swaths of mostly uninhabited, mostly useless arctic land.

Step 2) Ensure global warning continues unchecked, possibly even accelerate it
so that the land you just bought becomes super valuable

Step 3) profit

~~~
user5994461
Given that Trump is 73 years old, he won't live long enough for Greenland to
become "habitable".

~~~
tony_cannistra
Habitability is definitely not the objective. Greenland is hydrocarbons
covered in ice.

~~~
cat199
... and increases access/claims to arctic ocean & natural gas, which russia
and canada are already more active in exploring / exploiting.

------
unpythonic
I get the feeling he was looking at a world map with a Mercator projection.

~~~
7373737373
It still is as large as Mexico:
[https://thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~!MTU1MzY0MTU.Mjc4MTA5Nw*...](https://thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~!MTU1MzY0MTU.Mjc4MTA5Nw*MzA1NjQ2NTg\(MzMwMjU1OTY~!CONTIGUOUS_US*MTAwMjQwNzU.MjUwMjM1MTc\(MTc1\)MA~!IN*NTI2NDA1MQ.Nzg2MzQyMQ\)Mg~!CN*OTkyMTY5Nw.NzMxNDcwNQ\(MjI1\)MQ~!DK*MA.MTgwMDAwMDA\)Mw~!GL*NjgyMzU2MQ.NjkxMjUzNA\)NA)

------
jamestomasino
Wait a minute... isn't this basically Lex Luthor's plan in the first Superman
movie?

~~~
Gibbon1
My plan.

    
    
       Step 1. Everyone in Puerto Rico registers Republican.
       Step 2. Change name to Greanland.
       Step 3. Two Senate Seats.

------
nkurz
I should probably just let Gwern post it, but since he hasn't shown up yet,
here's a link to his wonderful post on the previous US attempt to buy
Greenland:

"After WWII, the Cold War motivated the USA to offer $100m for ownership of
Greenland, which was declined. The USA got the benefit of using Greenland
anyway. I discuss how the island otherwise remained a drain since, the dim
prospect it will ever be useful to Denmark, and the forgone benefits of that
offer. I speculate on the real reasons for the refusal."

[https://www.gwern.net/Greenland](https://www.gwern.net/Greenland)

------
holy_city
I feel like this is one of those stories like "Condoleeza Rice on short-list
for Browns HC" that's just trying to flush out someone leaking information to
the press.

------
bwb
lol, is it such a weird time in the world that I don't know if this is real or
fake?

Just wow.

------
acjohnson55
The Danes aren't selling.

~~~
zazagura
This sounds like a private buy, meaning that the land remains under Danish
sovereignty.

~~~
cat199
how do you get this at all from TFA?

"In meetings, at dinners and in passing conversations, Mr. Trump has asked
advisers whether the U.S. can acquire Greenland"

"It is also unclear how the U.S. would go about acquiring Greenland even if
the effort were serious. "

"It unleashed a cascade of questions among his advisers, such as whether the
U.S. could use Greenland to establish a stronger military presence in the
Arctic, and what kind of research opportunities it might present."

etc etc.

------
RcouF1uZ4gsC
>The person described the question less as a serious inquiry and more as a
joke meant to indicate “I’m so powerful I could buy a country,” noting that
since Mr. Trump hadn’t floated the idea at a campaign rally yet, he probably
isn’t seriously considering it.

With past Presidents, you would have to rely on the press and insider leaks to
figure out what the President was really thinking. Between his campaign
rallies, and Twitter, we get a pretty unfiltered day by day view of what is on
the President's mind. That can be both good and bad.

------
_bxg1
[sigh]

