Donald Trump, who once claimed that he was “the best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico,” reportedly delayed more than $20 billion in hurricane relief aid for the commonwealth after Hurricane Maria and tried to trade the U.S. territory for Greenland because, in his own words, “Puerto Rico was dirty and the people were poor.”
In their book The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021, authors Peter Baker and Susan Glasser write that the former-president’s galaxy-brain idea to acquire the country that inspired a pretty good Gerard Butler movie came from Estée Lauder tycoon Ronald Lauder. “A friend of mine, a really, really experienced businessman, thinks we can get Greenland,” Mr. Trump told a national security adviser, according to an article published by Baker in the New York Times. “What do you think?”
The Hill has more:
Trump continued to press for acquiring the island, the world’s largest, suggesting that the U.S. take federal money away from Puerto Rico to buy Greenland or trade the two islands. Trump said in an interview that the idea to buy Greenland was his own idea.
“I love maps,” Trump reportedly said, not referring to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs song. “And I always said, look at the size of this. It’s massive. That should be part of the United States.” Needless to say, Denmark’s prime minister rejected the idea, calling it “absurd.” Treating Puerto Rico and Greenland like they’re part of the NBA Trade Machine, and not the home of over three million people — what’s absurd about that?
(Via the New York Times and The Hill)