President Donald Trump has called Denmark’s PM ‘nasty’ after she called his actions ‘absurd’
He’s known for making pretty outrageous statements but Donald Trump’s latest remarks are jaw-dropping even by his standards.
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President Donald Trump is known to have a healthy ego but a string of comments have taken it to the next-level.
First, Trump thanked conservative radio host and supporter Wayne Allyn Root for his praise. In a tweet, Trump quoted Root calling the president “the best president for Israel in the history of the world” and claiming Jewish people in Israel love Trump “like he’s the King of Israel. They love him like he’s the second coming of God.”
The messianic imagery may have stuck in Trump’s head.
Later in the day, as the president was defending his trade war with China, he cast himself as a reluctant warrior.
Somebody had to do it and he was the one, Mr Trump told reporters.
“I am the chosen one,” he said, turning and looking up to the sky. “Somebody had to do it.”
Meantime, Trump said that he scrapped his trip to Denmark because the prime minister made a “nasty” statement when she rejected his idea to buy Greenland as an absurdity.
“You don’t talk to the United States that way, at least under me,” Mr Trump said in Washington. “I thought it was not a nice statement, the way she blew me off.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the whole thing “an absurd discussion” and said she was “disappointed and surprised” that Mr Trump had cancelled his visit.
“Thank you to Wayne Allyn Root for the very nice words. “President Trump is the greatest President for Jews and for Israel in the history of the world, not just America, he is the best President for Israel in the history of the world...and the Jewish people in Israel love him....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 21, 2019
....like he’s the King of Israel. They love him like he is the second coming of God...But American Jews don’t know him or like him. They don’t even know what they’re doing or saying anymore. It makes no sense! But that’s OK, if he keeps doing what he’s doing, he’s good for.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 21, 2019
Mr Trump said Ms Frederiksen’s comment labelling his idea as absurd “was nasty. I thought it was an inappropriate statement. All she had to say was say, ‘No, we wouldn’t be interested.”’ Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of the US ally, and Frederiksen said the US remains one of Denmark’s close allies.
The political brouhaha over the world’s largest island comes from its strategic location in the Arctic.
Global warming is making Greenland more accessible to potential oil and mineral resources. Russia, China, the US, Canada and other countries are racing to stake as strong a claim as they can to Arctic lands, hoping they will yield future riches.
Mr Trump was scheduled to visit Denmark on September 2-3 as part of a European tour. But early Wednesday he tweeted his decision to indefinitely postpone the trip.
The move stunned Danes and blindsided the Danish royal palace.
Spokeswoman Lene Balleby told The Associated Press that it came as “a surprise” to the royal household, which had formally invited Mr Trump.
“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,” Mr Trump said.
The vast island of Greenland sits between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, has a population of 56,000 and has 80 per cent of its land mass covered by a 1.7 million- square-kilometre ice sheet.
For all of Greenland’s appeal, scientists consider it the canary in the coal mine for climate change and say its massive ice sheet has seen one of its biggest melts on record this summer, contributing to a global rise in sea levels.
Ms Frederiksen said she is standing behind the government of Greenland.
“A discussion about a potential sale of Greenland has been put forward. It has been rejected by Greenland Premier Kim Kielsen and I fully stand behind that rejection,” she told reporters in Copenhagen.
Ms Frederiksen, who took office two months ago in a minority Social Democratic government, went on to say that diplomatic relations between Copenhagen and Washington “are not in any crisis in my opinion” despite Mr Trump’s cancelled plans. “The invitation for a stronger strategic co-operation with the Americans in the Arctic is still open,” Ms Frederiksen said, adding “the United States is one of our closest allies.” Others in Denmark were not as gracious.
Martin Lidegaard, a former Danish foreign minister, told broadcaster TV2 that it was “a diplomatic farce” and Mr Trump’s behaviour was “grotesque.”
Mr Trump’s cancellation was “deeply insulting to the people of Greenland and Denmark,” former Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt wrote on Twitter.
Claus Oxfeldt, chairman of Denmark’s main police union, told Danish media that authorities had been busy planning the third visit by a sitting US president to the Scandinavian NATO member.
“It has created great frustrations to have spent so much time preparing for a visit that is cancelled,” Mr Oxfeldt was quoted as saying.
Ordinary Danes shook their heads at the news, with many calling Mr Trump immature.
“He thinks he can just buy Greenland. He acts like an elephant in a china shop,” said Pernille Iversen, a 41-year-old shopkeeper in Copenhagen. “This is an insult to (Queen) Margrethe, to Denmark,” said Steen Gade, a 55-year-old road worker.
In Greenland, Johannes Kyed, an employee with a mine company, told Denmark’s TV2 channel that wanting to buy a country and its people is a relic of the past. “This is not the way the world works today,” Mr Kyed said.
The US ambassador to Denmark, Carla Sands, was apparently not informed of Mr Trump’s decision ahead of time.
Shortly before Mr Trump cancelled the trip on Twitter, she sent a tweet saying “Denmark is ready for POTUS,” using an acronym for “President of the United States” along with Mr Trump’s Twitter handle and a photo from Copenhagen’s City Hall square, where a Dane had paid for two pro-Trump ads on giant electronic screens.
Mr Trump said Sunday he was interested in buying Greenland for strategic purposes, but said a purchase was not a priority for his government at this time. Both Ms Frederiksen and Greenland leader Ms Kielsen responded that Greenland is not for sale.
“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,” Mr Trump said in the tweet on Wednesday. “I thank her for that and look forward to rescheduling sometime in the future!”
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....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2019
Mr Trump is still expected to visit nearby Poland beginning on August 31.
Retreating ice could uncover potential oil and mineral resources in Greenland which, if successfully tapped, could dramatically change the island’s fortunes.
However, no oil has yet been found in Greenlandic waters and the thickness of the ice means exploration is only possible in coastal regions.
Even then, conditions are far from ideal, due to Greenland’s long winters with frozen ports, 24-hour darkness and temperatures that regularly drop below minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit) in the island’s northern regions.
American leaders have tried to buy Greenland before. In 1946, the US proposed paying Denmark $100 million to buy Greenland after flirting with the idea of swapping land in Alaska for strategic parts of the Arctic island.
Under a 1951 deal, Denmark allowed the US to build bases and radar stations on Greenland.
The US Air Force currently maintains one base in northern Greenland, Thule Air Force Base, 1200 kilometres south of the North Pole. Former military airfields in Narsarsuaq, Kulusuk and Kangerlussuaq have become civilian airports.
The Thule base, constructed in 1952, was originally designed as a refuelling base for long-range bombing missions. Since 1961, it has been a ballistic missile early warning and space surveillance site.
Originally published as President Donald Trump has called Denmark’s PM ‘nasty’ after she called his actions ‘absurd’
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