What does Greenland have that Trump wants?
[Headlines from DRJ]
Climate change turns Arctic into strategic, economic hotspot:
TASIILAQ, Greenland (AP) — From a helicopter, Greenland’s brilliant white ice and dark mountains make the desolation seem to go on forever. And the few people who live here — its whole population wouldn’t fill a football stadium — are poor, with a high rate of substance abuse and suicide.
One scientist called it the “end of the planet.”
When U.S. President Donald Trump floated the idea of buying Greenland, it was met with derision, seen as an awkward and inappropriate approach of an erstwhile ally.
But it might also be an Aladdin’s Cave of oil, natural gas and rare earth minerals just waiting to be tapped as the ice recedes.
It’s not about climate change, it’s about China and rare earth minerals:
US President Donald Trump’s interest in buying Greenland, the autonomous territory of Denmark, has been making headlines.
For the general public, the president’s bizarre idea of buying an ice-covered island seems like a joke. Many are wondering why Trump suddenly proposed buying a sovereign nation’s territory. One guess is that Greenland is abundant in natural resources, including some of the largest deposits of rare earths. A Chinese company has already been engaged in a rare-earth mining project in Greenland by acquiring a stake in an Australian company called Greenland Minerals.
So even if Trump is joking, the fantasy has exposed his anxiety about China’s dominance over production of rare-earth metals, which are broadly used in high-technology products from smartphones to electric vehicles.
— DRJ
“Months before President Donald Trump expressed an interest in buying Greenland, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said he suggested the idea to the President and met with the Danish ambassador…”
“… to propose the sale of the large land mass to the U.S…. ‘Obviously, the right decision for this country,’ Cotton said quickly when asked by Talk Business & Politics CEO Roby Brock about Trump’s Greenland tweets. “You’re joking, but I can reveal to you that several months ago, I met with the Danish ambassador and I proposed that they sell Greenland to us.’… Cotton said… Greenland’s ‘economic potential is untold,’ and the island is ‘vital to our national security.’ ‘Anyone who can’t see that is blinded by Trump derangement,’ he said. Cotton said in 2018 the Chinese government sought to essentially bribe the local government of Greenland into allowing it to build three military bases there. But efforts by Trump administration and some in Congress convinced Denmark to weigh in at the last minute and block the deal, Cotton said. ‘I told the president you should buy it as well,’ Cotton said, adding later that ‘He’s (Trump) heard that from me and from some other people as well.'”
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2019/08/months-before-president-donald-trump.html
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/22/2019 @ 5:03 pmSo why did the greatest deal-maker of all time make his initial offer publicly, through the press, without even doing a perfunctory private inquiry whether there was a chance of it being negotiable?
Is inviting global humiliation and mockery part of “The Art of the Deal”?
Dave (1bb933) — 8/22/2019 @ 5:04 pmOT, but I just watched the former CEO of Overstock.xxx (Patrick Byrne) talk about his involvement in political espionage wherein he was asked to conduct an affair with a Russian spy (that Maria lady who is currently serving a prison sentence). The espionage was conducted against Hillary Clinton, Rubio, Cruz and Trump. He says he’s given info to the DOJ about 3 individuals at the top of the food chain who were the prime instigators. The guy was all over the place, but very interesting.
He ended the interview by saying if you want to see Strzok or Comey crap their pants, just mention his name.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/22/2019 @ 5:13 pmActually it began with a leak, from some source last week, so it was really about rare earths which china has cornered the market on.
Narciso (222325) — 8/22/2019 @ 5:30 pmI had some dreams
They were clouds in my Covfefe
Clouds in my Covfefe, yeah
And it was in vain
nk (dbc370) — 8/22/2019 @ 5:33 pmGreenland’s not for sale
It was in vain
Cotton, you were wrong
Weren’t you? Weren’t you?
It was in vain
Geologist believes that are untold magnitude of rare-earth along Greenland coastline.
Beside it’s location, the minerals there do have significant national security implications.
whembly (4605df) — 8/22/2019 @ 5:55 pmLocation, location, location.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 8/22/2019 @ 6:51 pmIf there were valuable minerals in Greenland, wouldn’t the current owners sell them to us? They already rent us part of their land for a huge air force base. I like emmenthaler but don’t have to buy Switzerland to get the cheese.
Slugger (077b99) — 8/23/2019 @ 7:38 am2. Dave (1bb933) — 8/22/2019 @ 5:04 pm
I think his interest in purchasing Greenland had already leaked.
His advisors had ignored that for two years, or told him it was not feasible, but fnally decided to let him find out for himself.
Now I would need to cerify that I have that right that it had already leaked when Trump tried to
Sammy Finkelman (c95a5a) — 8/23/2019 @ 7:57 amjustify it on Twitter.,
8. Slugger (077b99) — 8/23/2019 @ 7:38 am
Well, there you hae the question of whether the government of China would try to get an exclusive deal, possibly acting through front companies. Of course, you don’t need to buy Greenland to prevent that.
Sammy Finkelman (c95a5a) — 8/23/2019 @ 8:00 am“So I looked up Greenlandic food. They’re eating whale blubber and musk ox. The Danes haven’t even brought them the tiny pastries. So yeah. When we open a Chick-fil-A and a Five Guys I’m pretty sure we are going to be received as liberators”
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/23/2019 @ 9:53 amWhat’s it worth?
1. Before or after the Russians occupy it and dare us to make them move?
2. Before or after the Chinese make an offer for it?
3. Before or after some realize its a material part of the defense of the North Pole type areas that Russia is actively seeking to exploit?
Its cold? So is Alaska. Its a godforsaken place? So was the Louisiana purchase.
I can see why many Trump opponents aren’t into investing.
Harcourt Fenton Mudd (0c349e) — 8/23/2019 @ 10:19 amThen why did Trump go and blow the deal? Was it something we said?
nk (dbc370) — 8/23/2019 @ 10:49 amThereby invading a NATO nation, where there is a large US military presence, starting WWIII. So that’s a not a thing.
Offering for a thing still not for sale? Another thing that isn’t going to happen.
Yup, where the Northwestern Passage traverses internal waters of…Canada. And Greenland is still part of NATO, Thule Air Force is American, and Russia is free to exploit their territory, the Danes, Canadians, and US too.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c) — 8/23/2019 @ 11:05 am14: Of course no sane person would ever invade a country with a large US base!
Anyone even imagining that might next be predicting such fantasies as an attack on Pearl Harbor, an move through the Ardennes, a Non Aggression Pact with a mortal enemy, an attack by Germany on the USSR, rockets installed in Cuba, an attack on Poland despite a security guarantee from Britain. Or nuts using airliners to destroy some buildings. Comic book stuff, right?
And with one US political party bent on “Medicare for all,” and inviting all of Latin America to cross our border, we’re in swell financial and political shape for a war.
Let me guess: you credited “The End of History” too?
Harcourt Fenton Mudd (0c349e) — 8/23/2019 @ 11:39 amwell fukuyama, just reset the clock to before 1917, as pointed out we’ve had steady engagement with Greenland going back to the 50s,
narciso (d1f714) — 8/23/2019 @ 11:45 amSpooky! Agent Orange may be the Chosen One and the King of Israel, but Ted Cruz is apparently a prophet:
During the 2016 GOP primary election, Ted Cruz joked that Donald Trump might “nuke Denmark” if elected president.
“We’re liable to wake up one morning, and Donald, if he were president, would have nuked Denmark.”
Dave (1bb933) — 8/23/2019 @ 12:05 pmIts not what “Trump wants”. Its what’s good for the USA.
rcocean (1a839e) — 8/23/2019 @ 12:52 pmYeah, and how did that work out for those guys that attacked Pearl Harbor, you know, in that other World War? You’re making my point for me.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c) — 8/23/2019 @ 12:53 pmThey have the #3 GDP in the world, and their main ally, who declared war on us a few days later, is #4.
🙂
Dave (1bb933) — 8/23/2019 @ 1:16 pmSo it would be a massive benefit to Russia to attack NATO, they may move up a dozen positions. After the nuclear detonations, and 70 years.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c) — 8/23/2019 @ 1:41 pmIt seems everyone assumes this was “ham fisted” Trump who deserved to be called absurd.
Tom Cotton had spoken to the Danes before about it, but when Trump gets serious as the principal, suddenly he’s called absurd. I’d be pissed too. Diplomacy is a two way street.
“The Arkansas Republican discussed purchasing the territory of Greenland with Denmark’s ambassador to the US last year and subsequently floated the idea to President Donald Trump, a senior Senate aide confirmed to CNN on Thursday.”
The leader of Greenland has been courting the Chinese, and had approached the Chinese about building and running three airports in Greenland.
steveg (354706) — 8/24/2019 @ 12:20 pmImagine the Chinese building a listening/watching station on Greenland similar to the one they built in Argentina
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-argentina-china-insight/chinas-military-run-space-station-in-argentina-is-a-black-box-idUSKCN1PP0I2
So it was Senator Tom Cotton who was to blame for this?
Did he think it was realistic, or that Donald Trump could make it realistic?
Sammy Finkelman (c95a5a) — 8/26/2019 @ 10:48 am