General view of Thule Air Base. A defence treaty between Denmark and the United States dating back to 1951 gives the US military rights over the Thule Air Base in northern Greenland.

[COPENHAGEN] Greenland on Friday dismissed the notion that it might be up for sale after reports that US President Donald Trump had privately discussed with his advisers the idea of buying the world's biggest island.

"We are open for business, but we're not for sale," Greenland's foreign minister Ane Lone Bagger told Reuters.

Mr Trump is due to visit Copenhagen in September and the Arctic will be on the agenda during meetings with the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.

Talk of a Greenland purchase was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that the notion had been laughed off by some advisers as a joke but was taken more seriously by others in the White House.

Danish politicians on Friday poured scorn on the idea.

"It has to be an April Fool's joke. Totally out of season," former prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Twitter.

"If he is truly contemplating this, then this is final proof, that he has gone mad," foreign affairs spokesman for the Danish People's Party, Soren Espersen, told broadcaster DR.

"The thought of Denmark selling 50,000 citizens to the United States is completely ridiculous," he said.

Greenland, a self-ruling part of Denmark located between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, is dependant on Danish economic support. It handles its own domestic affairs while Copenhagen looks after defence and foreign policy.

"I am sure a majority in Greenland believes it is better to have a relation to Denmark than the United States, in the long term," Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, Danish MP from Greenland's second-largest party Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA), told Reuters.

"My immediate thought is 'No, thank you'," she said.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod were not available for comment but officials said they would respond later. The US Embassy in Copenhagen was also not immediately available for comment.

"Oh dear lord. As someone who loves Greenland, has been there nine times to every corner and loves the people, this is a complete and total catastrophe," former US ambassador to Denmark, Rufus Gifford, said in on Twitter.

Greenland is gaining attention from global super powers including China, Russia and the United States due to its strategic location and its mineral resources.

In May, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Russia was behaving aggressively in the Arctic and China's actions there had to be watched closely as well.

A defence treaty between Denmark and the United States dating back to 1951 gives the US military rights over the Thule Air Base in northern Greenland.

There has been no indication that a Greenland purchase will be on the agenda for Mr Trump's talks with Danish officials.

Martin Lidegaard, senior lawmaker of the Danish Social Liberal Party and a former foreign minister, called the idea "a grotesque proposal" which had no basis in reality.

"We are talking about real people and you can't just sell Greenland like an old colonial power," he told Reuters.

"But what we can take seriously is that the US stakes and interest in the Arctic is significantly on the rise and they want a much bigger influence," he added.

In 1917 Denmark sold off the then Danish West Indies islands for US$25 million to the United States, which renamed them the United States Virgin Islands. </s> COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Greenland on Friday dismissed the notion that it might be up for sale after reports that U.S. President Donald Trump had privately discussed with his advisers the idea of buying the world’s biggest island.

“We are open for business, but we’re not for sale,” Greenland’s foreign minister Ane Lone Bagger told Reuters.

Trump is due to visit Copenhagen in September and the Arctic will be on the agenda during meetings with the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.

Talk of a Greenland purchase was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that the notion had been laughed off by some advisers as a joke but was taken more seriously by others in the White House.

Danish politicians on Friday poured scorn on the idea.

“It has to be an April Fool’s joke. Totally out of season,” former prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Twitter.

“If he is truly contemplating this, then this is final proof, that he has gone mad,” foreign affairs spokesman for the Danish People’s Party, Soren Espersen, told broadcaster DR.

“The thought of Denmark selling 50,000 citizens to the United States is completely ridiculous,” he said.

Greenland, a self-ruling part of Denmark located between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, is dependant on Danish economic support. It handles its own domestic affairs while Copenhagen looks after defense and foreign policy.

“I am sure a majority in Greenland believes it is better to have a relation to Denmark than the United States, in the long term,” Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, Danish MP from Greenland’s second-largest party Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA), told Reuters.

“My immediate thought is ‘No, thank you’,” she said.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod were not available for comment but officials said they would respond later on Friday. The U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen was also not immediately available for comment.

General view of Upernavik in western Greenland, Denmark July 11, 2015. Picture taken July 11, 2015. Ritzau Scanpix/Linda Kastrup via REUTERS

“Oh dear lord. As someone who loves Greenland, has been there nine times to every corner and loves the people, this is a complete and total catastrophe,” former U.S. ambassador to Denmark, Rufus Gifford, said in on Twitter.

Greenland is gaining attention from global super powers including China, Russia and the United States due to its strategic location and its mineral resources.

In May, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Russia was behaving aggressively in the Arctic and China’s actions there had to be watched closely as well.

A defense treaty between Denmark and the United States dating back to 1951 gives the U.S. military rights over the Thule Air Base in northern Greenland.

There has been no indication that a Greenland purchase will be on the agenda for Trump’s talks with Danish officials.

Martin Lidegaard, senior lawmaker of the Danish Social Liberal Party and a former foreign minister, called the idea “a grotesque proposal” which had no basis in reality.

“We are talking about real people and you can’t just sell Greenland like an old colonial power,” he told Reuters.

Slideshow (9 Images)

“But what we can take seriously is that the U.S. stakes and interest in the Arctic is significantly on the rise and they want a much bigger influence,” he added.

In 1917 Denmark sold off the then Danish West Indies islands for $25 million to the United States, which renamed them the United States Virgin Islands. </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Greenland is an autonomous Danish territory between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans

Greenland has said it is "not for sale" after President Donald Trump stated that he would like the US to buy the world's biggest island.

The president is said to have discussed the idea of purchasing Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, during dinners and meetings with advisers.

But Greenland's government dismissed the idea, saying: "We're open for business, not for sale."

Mr Trump's plans have also been quickly dismissed by politicians in Denmark. "It must be an April Fool's Day joke...but totally out of [season]!", tweeted former Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which first reported the news, said Mr Trump had spoken about the purchase with "varying degrees of seriousness".

Sources quoted in other media differed over whether the president was joking or seriously hoping to expand US territory.

How has Greenland reacted?

Officials in Greenland have insisted that the island is not on the market.

"Greenland is rich in valuable resources such as minerals, the purest water and ice, fish stocks, seafood, renewable energy and is a new frontier for adventure tourism. We're open for business, not for sale," the foreign ministry said in a statement shared on social media.

Greenland Premier Kim Kielsen repeated the comments in a separate statement. "Greenland is not for sale, but Greenland is open for trade and cooperation with other countries, including the USA," he said.

Greenland MP Aaja Chemnitz Larsen was also among those to dismiss the president's interest.

"No thanks to Trump buying Greenland!", she wrote on Twitter, adding that a "better and more equal partnership with Denmark" was the way forward.

Poul Krarup, editor-in-chief of Greenland's Sermitsiaq newspaper, told the BBC he "couldn't believe" Mr Trump's remarks.

"Greenland is an independent area in the Danish kingdom and must be respected as such," he said.

But he said he thought the chances of Mr Trump's reported ambitions being realised were unlikely.

"We'd like to cooperate with the US, no doubt about that, but we are independent and we decide who our friends are."

What about Denmark?

Politicians in Denmark have ridiculed the idea of a possible US acquisition.

"If he is truly contemplating this, then this is final proof, that he has gone mad," foreign affairs spokesman for the populist Danish People's Party, Soren Espersen, told national broadcaster DR.

"The thought of Denmark selling 50,000 citizens to the United States is completely ridiculous."

"Out of all things that are not going to happen, this is the most unlikely. Forget it," Danish Conservative MP Rasmus Jarlov wrote on Twitter.

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who took office earlier this year, has not commented on the reports.

She is set to visit Greenland this weekend and has said she is "very much looking forward" to it.

Mr Trump is scheduled to visit Denmark in September but there is no indication that the possible acquisition of Greenland is on the agenda.

The WSJ reported that it was "unclear" how the US would go about acquiring Greenland if Mr Trump was serious.

Where is Greenland?

Greenland is the largest island in the world (after Australia, which is defined as a continent in its own right). It is an autonomous Danish territory, located between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans.

It has a population of about 56,000 people concentrated around the coastline. Almost 90% are indigenous Greenlandic Inuit people. It has a limited self-government and its own parliament.

More than 80% of the island is covered by an ice cap which is feared to be melting due to global warming.

The ice melt has increased access to the island's mineral resources.

But it's also believed that the receding ice may expose toxic nuclear waste that was left at several US military sites during the Cold War.

Why would it be appealing to Trump?

Mr Trump has reportedly taken an interest in Greenland, in part, because of its natural resources, such as coal, zinc, copper and iron ore.

But while Greenland might be rich in minerals, it currently relies on Denmark for two thirds of its budget revenue. It has high rates of suicide, alcoholism and unemployment.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Reports differ over whether Mr Trump was serious about trying to purchase Greenland

Two people briefed on the discussions told the New York Times the president was also interested in Greenland's "national security value" because of its location.

The US has long seen the island as being strategically important and established an air force and radar base there at the start of the Cold War.

Republican Representative Mike Gallagher described Mr Trump's idea as a "smart geopolitical move".

"The United States has a compelling strategic interest in Greenland, and this should absolutely be on the table," he tweeted.

Can countries buy territories?

Historically, countries have acquired territory not only through military conquest but also financial deals.

Under the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the US acquired about 827,000 sq miles (2.1m sq km) of land from France for $15m (£12.3m). In 1867, the US reached a deal with Russia to purchase Alaska for $7.2m.

The US later purchased the Danish West Indies in 1917 and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.

However, Duke University law professor Joseph Blocher told the BBC that the practice "has basically dried up".

"I think in part because nations can often get what they want without expanding their sovereign territory, and also because... people can't just be bartered around like chattel anymore," said Professor Blocher.

"An outright sale would have to be approved by the United States, Denmark, and the people of Greenland, and the odds of that seem vanishingly small," he added.

Has the US ever tried to buy Greenland before?

The idea of purchasing Greenland was first mooted during the 1860s under the presidency of Andrew Johnson.

In 1867, a report by the US State Department suggested that Greenland's strategic location, along with its abundance of resources, made it an ideal acquisition.

But no official move was made until 1946, when Harry Truman offered Denmark $100m for the territory.

He had earlier toyed with the idea of swapping land in Alaska for strategic parts of Greenland, according to AP. </s> After Denmark prime minister's comment, US President Donald Trump said that he scrapped his trip to Denmark

Escalating an international spat, President Donald Trump said Wednesday 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. (Photo: File)

Copenhagen: Escalating an international spat, President Donald Trump said Wednesday 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," Trump told reporters 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 Trump had cancelled his visit.

Trump said 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. Trump was scheduled to visit Denmark on Sept. 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 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," 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-kilometer (660,000 square-mile) 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. 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.

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 Trump's canceled plans. "The invitation for a stronger strategic cooperation with the Americans in the Arctic is still open," 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 Trump's behaviour was "grotesque." 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," Oxfeldt was quoted as saying. Ordinary Danes shook their heads at the news, with many calling 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," Kyed said. The US ambassador to Denmark, Carla Sands, was apparently not informed of Trump's decision ahead of time. Shortly before 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 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.

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 Frederiksen and Greenland leader 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," Trump said in the tweet on Wednesday. "I thank her for that and look forward to rescheduling sometime in the future!" Trump is still expected to visit nearby Poland beginning on August, 31. </s> Escalating an international spat, President Donald Trump said Wednesday 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," Trump told reporters 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 Trump had canceled his visit.

Trump said Frederiksen's comment labeling 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.

Trump was scheduled to visit Denmark on Sept. 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 Trump.

The US State Department said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke Wednesday with his Danish counterpart and "expressed appreciation for Denmark's cooperation as one of the United States' allies and Denmark's contributions to address shared global security priorities."

Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said Pompeo and Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeppe Kofod "also discussed strengthening cooperation with the Kingdom of Denmark - including Greenland - in the Arctic."

On Tuesday, Trump tweeted, "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."

The vast island of Greenland sits between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, has a population of 56,000 and has 80 percent of its land mass covered by a 1.7 million-square-kilometer (660,000 square-mile) 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.

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.

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 Trump's canceled plans.

"The invitation for a stronger strategic cooperation with the Americans in the Arctic is still open," 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 Trump's behavior was "grotesque."

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 canceled," Oxfeldt was quoted as saying.

Ordinary Danes shook their heads at the news, with many calling 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," Kyed said.

The US ambassador to Denmark, Carla Sands, was apparently not informed of Trump's decision ahead of time.

Shortly before Trump canceled 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 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.

Trump said Sunday he was interested in buying Greenland for strategic purposes but said purchase was not a priority for his government at this time. Both Frederiksen and Greenland leader 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," Trump said in the tweet Wednesday. "I thank her for that and look forward to rescheduling sometime in the future!"

Trump is still expected to visit nearby Poland beginning Aug. 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, 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) south of the North Pole. Former military airfields in Narsarsuaq, Kulusuk and Kangerlussuaq have become civilian airports. </s> The astonishment in Denmark over President Donald Trump’s apparent desire to buy Greenland turned to bewilderment and anger on Wednesday after the American leader abruptly scrapped a state visit because the Danes have no desire to sell.

The cancellation was a rare snub of Denmark’s head of state, Queen Margrethe II, who had extended the invitation to the president and would have hosted him and the first lady.

Later in the day, Trump further strained ties, calling the Danish prime minister’s rejection of the idea “nasty.” News that Trump had called off his visit “came as a surprise,” the Royal House’s communications director told the state broadcaster, adding, “That’s all we have to say about that.”

Others, however, had more to say. “Is this some sort of joke?” Helle Thorning-Schmidt, a former prime minister, wrote on Twitter. “Deeply insulting to the people of Greenland and Denmark.”

It was not a joke. A day earlier, Trump said on Twitter that Denmark was “a very special country with incredible people” but added that he was abandoning plans to visit because of the country’s refusal to sell Greenland, a semiautonomous part of the kingdom of Denmark.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had said she had no interest in discussing the sale of Greenland. “Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland,” Frederiksen told a Danish newspaper this week. “I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously.”

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said that she had been “nasty” to describe the suggestion as “an absurd discussion.” “All they had to do is say, ‘No, we’d rather not do that or we’d rather not talk about it,’” he said. “Don’t say what an absurd idea that is.”

He added, “You don’t talk to the United States that way.” Frederiksen, asked about his remarks on Danish television, said, “I’m not going to enter a war of words with anybody, nor with the American president.”

She said she found the Danish response to the president’s visit and its cancellation “good and wise.”

On Sunday, Trump said the idea of buying Greenland has been discussed in his administration because of the strategic benefits and in part because of its natural resources, like coal and uranium. He also suggested that the territory was a financial burden to Denmark. “Essentially, it’s a large real estate deal,” Trump told reporters on Sunday of his interest in buying Greenland. “A lot of things can be done. It’s hurting Denmark very badly, because they’re losing almost $700 million a year carrying it. So they carry it at a great loss.”

Greenland’s government is in charge of most aspects of its affairs except foreign policy and defense. Local governments have not managed to develop a sustainable economy and receive more than 50% of the island’s budget in direct subsidies topped with additional Danish spending on defense and enforcement of sovereignty. The total bill amounts to $740 million annually.

The idea of buying Greenland, which came to light last week, had been immediately and flatly rejected by leaders in Greenland and Denmark, who found themselves in the odd position at the time of having to publicly state that “Greenland is not for sale.”

On Wednesday, disbelief and condemnation echoed through the political landscape, as it began to sink in that Trump wasn’t kidding. “Please stop,” Martin Lidegaard, head of the foreign affairs committee in Parliament, wrote on Twitter, before citing several other areas of discussion that he said should be of interest to both countries: the Arctic, climate change and the Middle East.

“Total chaos,” the former finance minister Kristian Jensen wrote. “This has gone from a great opportunity for a strengthened dialogue between allies to a diplomatic crisis.”

Before Trump canceled his visit, Frederiksen told a television reporter on Sunday in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland: “Thankfully, the time where you buy and sell other countries and populations is over. Let’s leave it there.” She also added, “Jokes aside, we would naturally love to have an even closer strategic relationship with the U.S.”

But on Wednesday, Frederiksen acknowledged that the cancellation had been a surprise and “unusual” and that she “regretted” it. Adding to the already considerable awkwardness, Trump’s announcement that he was canceling his trip came not long after the American ambassador, Carla Sands, wrote on Twitter that Denmark was excited about the president’s visit.

A headline in Berlingske, a conservative daily, read “The U.S. and Denmark’s relationship has never been this ice-cold. It will have wide-ranging consequences.” A headline on the website of the state broadcaster read, “Trump sends Denmark and the U.S.’s relationship to the freezing point.”

Frederiksen, however, dismissed speculation that Danish-American relations had been damaged. “I don’t believe the relationship is in crisis,” she said Wednesday. “We are closely connected, and the United States is one of our most important allies. Our cooperation will only expand in strength and range.”

She said that any upcoming decisions about Danish contributions to military missions in Syria or the Strait of Hormuz would be unaffected. She added that Trump was welcome to visit the country at another time.

“The American president and the American people are always welcome in Denmark,” she said.

Many Danes had seen Trump’s visit as a recognition of a special relationship with the United States built on decades of friendly relations, mutual interests in the Arctic, and Danish responsiveness to American calls to action.

Danish troops took part in U.S.-led missions in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, where 43 Danish troops were killed, a staggering number for a nation of 5.5 million not used to war.

But the suggestion of a potential sale of Greenland by Denmark still stuck many as beyond the pale. “For no reason Trump assumes that (an autonomous) part of our country is for sale,” Rasmus Jarlov, a former minister of business, wrote on Twitter. “Then insultingly cancels visit that everybody was preparing for. Are parts of the U.S. for sale? Alaska? Please show more respect.” </s> From left, Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Prime Minister of Iceland Katrin Jakobsdottir arrive at Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Tuesday Aug. 20, 2019, ahead of the Nordic Prime Ministers meeting. (AP Photo/Egill Bjarnason)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The prime minister of Denmark said Wednesday she is “disappointed and surprised” by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel his visit to Denmark after she called Trump’s idea of buying Greenland, Denmark’s semi-autonomous Arctic territory, “an absurd discussion.”

Trump, who was scheduled to visit Denmark on Sept. 2-3 as part of a European tour, tweeted his decision early Wednesday. The cancellation stunned Danes and blindsided the Danish royal palace, with spokeswoman Lene Balleby telling The Associated Press it came as “a surprise” to the royal household, which had formally invited 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,” Trump said.

The vast island of Greenland sits between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, has a population of 56,000 and has 80% of its land mass covered by a 1.7 million-square-kilometer (660,000 square-mile) ice sheet.

The political brouhaha over the world’s largest island comes from its strategic location in the Arctic, which due to global warming is becoming more accessible to possible potential oil and mineral resources. Nations from Russia to China, the U.S., Canada and elsewhere are racing to stake as strong a claim as they can to Arctic lands, hoping they will yield future riches.

At the same time, scientists consider Greenland 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.

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 at a press conference Wednesday in Copenhagen.

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 Trump’s canceled plans.

“The invitation for a stronger strategic cooperation with the Americans in the Arctic is still open,” Frederiksen told reporters, adding “the United States is one of our closest allies.”

Others in Denmark were not as gracious as the prime minister.

Martin Lidegaard, a former Danish foreign minister, told broadcaster TV2 that it was “a diplomatic farce” and called Trump’s behavior “grotesque.”

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 U.S. president to the Scandinavian NATO member. “It has created great frustrations to have spent so much time preparing for a visit that is canceled,” Oxfeldt was quoted as saying.

Ordinary Danes shook their heads at the news, with many calling 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,” Kyed said.

The U.S. ambassador to Denmark, Carla Sands, was apparently not informed of Trump’s decision ahead of time.

Shortly before Trump canceled 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 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.

Trump had said Sunday that he was interested in buying Greenland for strategic purposes, but said a purchase was not a priority for his government at this time. Both Frederiksen and Greenland leader 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,” Trump said in the tweet. “I thank her for that and look forward to rescheduling sometime in the future!”

Trump is still expected to visit nearby Poland beginning on Aug. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. to build bases and radar stations on Greenland.

The U.S. Air Force currently maintains one base in northern Greenland, Thule Air Force Base, 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) 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 refueling base for long-range bombing missions. Since 1961, it has been a ballistic missile early warning and space surveillance site.

Analysts said, for Trump, his announcement on the cancellation was as close to diplomatic as the American president gets.

“His relatively polite wording in the tweets seems to indicate that he didn’t want to provoke or step up anything,” said Kristian Soeby Kristensen, a political scientist with the University of Copenhagen. He noted that Trump didn’t call Frederiksen “weak” as he has done with others.

Both Denmark and the United States have an interest in “business as usual” as Denmark is “a key partner in the Arctic.”

“They need each other, so I don’t see a buildup of tensions,” he said, adding that, however, “one should be cautious about analyzing Trump’s unconventional foreign policy.”

Darlene Superville in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. </s> The Danish government expressed shock and disbelief on Wednesday over U.S. President Donald Trump's cancellation of a state visit to Denmark after its prime minister rebuffed his interest in purchasing Greenland.

Trump's proposal at first elicited incredulity and humour from politicians in Denmark, a NATO ally of the United States, with former premier Lars Lokke Rasmussen saying: "It must be an April Fool's Day joke."

But the mood turned to shock when Trump called off the Sept. 2-3 visit after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called his idea of the United States buying Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, "absurd."

"Total chaos with @realDonaldTrump and cancellation of state visit to Denmark. It has gone from a big opportunity for strengthened dialogue between allies to a diplomatic crisis," former foreign minister Kristian Jensen, a member of the opposition Liberal Party, said on Twitter.

"Everyone should know Greenland is not for sale," Jensen said of the world's largest island, which has considerable mineral wealth and a U.S. military presence at the Thule Air Base under a U.S.-Danish treaty dating to 1951.

Frederiksen, who had been due to hold talks with Trump in Copenhagen, was unavailable for a comment as she was travelling after a visit to Greenland and Iceland earlier this week.

She said at the time that Greenland was "not for sale" and she hoped Trump's proposal was "not meant seriously."

Martin Lidegaard, a former foreign minister, told broadcaster TV2 it was "a diplomatic farce," and Trump's behaviour was "grotesque" and he was "throwing a hissy fit."

"It is very, very shocking, when it is about a very close ally and a good friend," Soren Espersen, foreign affairs spokesperson for the hard right Danish People's Party, told Danish news agency Ritzau.

He described Trump's cancellation as an offence to Queen Margrethe, Denmark's head of state, and said he did not expect another visit by the U.S. president would happen.

Trump and his wife Melania Trump were formally invited to Denmark by Queen Margrethe in July.

"It shows why we now more than ever should consider [fellow] European Union countries as our closest allies. The man is unpredictable," said Morten Ostergaard, leader of the Danish Social Liberal Party. "Reality surpasses imagination."

Trump, whose "America First" policies have resulted in strained relations with the EU over trade and other issues, said Sunday that a U.S. purchase of Greenland would be "a large real estate deal," though not an immediate priority.

"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," Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

Greenland, which is gaining attention from world powers including China, Russia and the U.S. due to its strategic location and mineral resources, is self-governing but depends on Denmark for economic support.

Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, a lawmaker from Greenland's Inuit Ataqatigiit opposition party, said she was not surprised at the cancellation, but it underlined the territory's importance.

"The U.S. is an interesting ally for Greenland, but we also wish for Greenland to remain in the union we have today," she told Reuters.

It's not the first time an American leader has expressed interest in buying the world's largest island.

In 1946, the U.S. proposed to pay Denmark $100 million to buy Greenland after flirting with the idea of swapping land in Alaska for strategic parts of the Arctic island. </s> President Donald Trump canceled a state visit to Denmark after his offer to buy Greenland was met first with bemusement, then flat refusal. Anger followed, and even Queen Margrethe II was drawn into the fray.

Trump had been due to make his first visit to Denmark, a founding member of NATO and a U.S. ally in the Iraq war, on Sept. 2-3. A series of reports last week indicated he wanted to purchase Greenland, the world’s biggest island and site of a strategic American base. The territory is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, though it has extensive home rule.

A leading member of the Danish government bloc on Wednesday called Trump’s behavior “hopeless,” while a former prime minister said the decision was “deeply insulting” to Danes. The queen weighed in, noting through a spokeswoman that the U.S. president’s decision to snub her invitation in a tweet came as a surprise.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said later that an invitation to Trump for a state visit still stands. The cancellation was a matter for regret, she told reporters in Copenhagen. “I was looking forward to his visit.”

Their discussions were to have focused on the strategic importance of Greenland. It’s where the U.S. has its northernmost base, Thule, and the island’s location close to the natural resources in the Arctic has made it attractive to both Russia and China. Frederiksen’s predecessor, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, said the debacle will require “enormous” work to repair trans-Atlantic relations.

The cancellation of the trip is a “diplomatic crisis,” said Kristian Jensen, a leading member of the opposition and a former finance minister. He hinted at the damage done to the post-World War II relationship with Denmark, which was among a handful of countries to follow the U.S. into the Iraq war.

Frederiksen had previously called the idea of buying Greenland absurd and said she hoped it was a joke. She made clear the island wasn’t for sale and that Denmark doesn’t have the authority to sell it in any case. Trump saved his response for Twitter.

“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,” Trump said in a Twitter post on Tuesday night.

Trump still plans to travel to Poland from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 for commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II. The U.S. leader has praised that nation for meeting a target for defense spending by NATO member nations and added 1,000 U.S. troops on the ground there. He also has touted a possible new military base for U.S. forces, known as “Fort Trump.”

Morten Ostergaard, the leader of the Social Liberals who form part of the government bloc, tweeted that “reality has surpassed fantasy. It cannot be that no one in the U.S. state department told Trump in advance” that buying Greenland isn’t an option. “This is pretty hopeless. And it shows why we more than ever need to regard the EU members as our closest allies. You cannot count on this man.”

Here’s what former Danish PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt had to say:

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who used to be NATO secretary general and is another former Danish PM, also weighed in:

Martin Lidegaard, a member of the government bloc and a former foreign minister, called the affair a “diplomatic farce.”

Trump wrote that “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. I thank her for that and look forward to rescheduling sometime in the future!”

Earlier this week, the president told reporters that buying Greenland would be “a large real estate deal” that could ease a financial burden on Denmark.

Frederiksen and other officials ruled out a sale.

“Greenland isn’t for sale, Greenland isn’t Danish, Greenland is Greenlandic,” Frederiksen said Sunday during a visit to the island, according to the local newspaper Sermitsiaq. “I keep trying to hope that this isn’t something that was seriously meant.”

However serious White House discussions of a sale might have been, the topic prompted jokes on both sides of the Atlantic after Trump’s interest was reported. He got into the act Monday night with a tweet showing an image of a golden Trump tower on an austere Greenland landscape. “I promise not to do this to Greenland,” Trump wrote.
In response to reports that U.S. President Donald Trump expressed interest in the United States acquiring Greenland, Greenland's Foreign Minister Ane Lone Bagger dismisses the idea, noting on Twitter that "a better and more equal partnership with Denmark should be the way forward for a stronger and longer-term free Greenland".