# How valuable would Greenland be to the United States? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 16, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752 "2019-08-16T16:26:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/61 "2019-08-17T22:33:59Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Maybe we could trade Greenland for something of equal value, say, West Virginia? Ice for coal? > > Or maybe the Danes could take South Dakota off our hands? Who needs it? The [_Washington Post_ article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/16/america-first-greenland-second-is-trumps-latest-white-house-directive/) claimed that Greenland’s coal reserves may be one of the reasons for the president’s interest in buying it. I guess he thinks West Virginia’s coal isn’t good enough? I’m sure this will effect his support there. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2019, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/62 "2019-08-17T23:00:18Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > The [_Washington Post_ article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/16/america-first-greenland-second-is-trumps-latest-white-house-directive/) claimed that Greenland’s coal reserves may be one of the reasons for the president’s interest in buying it. Coal is the future! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2019, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/63 "2019-08-18T00:31:49Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > on a flakey Canadian government It will be decades after the end of the Trump administration and the subsequent Trump prison sentence before the Canadian government appears “flakey” by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/64 "2019-08-18T02:27:32Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Coal is the future! He’ll offer the West Virginia miners a great incentive (which he won’t pay) to move to Greenland. They’ll finally get their jobs back! ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/65 "2019-08-18T03:18:03Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It’s cold, and there’s a lot of Lutherans there. Sorry, we don’t want it - we already got Minnesota. > > Regards, > Shodan It is going to BE Minnesota in a hundred years, once the ice is gone and the flies and mosquitoes take over. Prime post-glacial farm land, if you don’t have to live there. And there will be lots of lakes under all that ice. A bug infested fishing paradise. A very forward thinking president we have. Now, if we could only sell Louisiana back to the French. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2019, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/66 "2019-08-18T08:32:43Z")
BTW, don’t imagine the Greenlanders aren’t aware of Trump’s record on paying his bills. That may lead to a certain extra scepticism about the prospect of a deal. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2019, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/67 "2019-08-18T09:06:20Z")
> [@HelenGawn](#): > > He’ll offer the West Virginia miners a great incentive (which he won’t pay) to move to Greenland. They’ll finally get their jobs back! You know what is coming: **Trump** [to the ones that return after that plan fails and get a pity job from him]: “And YOU! Friendless. Brainless. Helpless. Hopeless! Do you want me to send you back to where you were? Unemployed? In Greenland?!” ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2019, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/68 "2019-08-18T20:05:28Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > It will be decades after the end of the Trump administration and the subsequent Trump prison sentence before the Canadian government appears “flakey” by comparison. Your speaking of the possible future, while ignoring the past. The specific reason for the formation of Norad ( a guess on my part to be true, but it fits) The Canadian reaction to the cuban missile crisis ( see formation of norad) both official and unofficial ( the reason for the subsequent amalgamation of the military to what became the CAF, as well as the threat of putting Colonels in charge of Destroyers. The bomark missile / CF-101 voodoo issue. What you concider flakey and others concider flakey may not quite be the same. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2019, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/69 "2019-08-18T20:18:18Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > Your speaking of the possible future, while ignoring the past. > > The specific reason for the formation of Norad ( a guess on my part to be true, but it fits) > > The Canadian reaction to the cuban missile crisis ( see formation of norad) both official and unofficial ( the reason for the subsequent amalgamation of the military to what became the CAF, as well as the threat of putting Colonels in charge of Destroyers. > > The bomark missile / CF-101 voodoo issue. > > What you concider flakey and others concider flakey may not quite be the same. I’m not sure how controversy over Canadian adoption and possible use of nuclear weapons and the re-organization of its military compares to building a wall and making Mexico pay for it but, hey, your flakage may vary, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/70 "2019-08-19T01:01:21Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > You could ask him why he’s interested in Greenland Greenland is bigly. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/71 "2019-08-19T01:10:13Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Greenland is bigly. As usual with Trump, it’s all about projection. ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/72 "2019-08-19T03:14:34Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Maybe the waters around it are valuable? Fish? Owning more of the Arctic Ocean? Oil? > > I don’t know how to say Drill Baby Drill in West Greenlandic. [China](https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3023282/chinas-arctic-push-behind-donald-trumps-wish-buy) > [@](#): > > A Chinese government-backed group’s offer last year to build three new international airports on Greenland sparked alarms in Copenhagen and Washington. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/73 "2019-08-19T05:38:49Z")
Well, this is a nice distraction from the shootings and the trade incompetence seen by Trump, I would expect the press secretary to clarify this and dispose of the silly Greenland issue any moment now… Oh well, the new press secretary said that it all depends on Trump to start again with the press briefings. That Inflatable Trump chicken needs to make a permanent roost just outside White House. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/74 "2019-08-19T14:49:13Z")
If he somehow acquires Greenland, will it fall under the jurisdiction of the EPA and other governmental agencies? ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/75 "2019-08-19T19:11:02Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > You could ask him why he’s interested in Greenland He is not known for his wide and deep general knowledge, and he has previously lamented that the US can’t get Scandinavian immigrants rather than… other nations. It is quite possible that he thinks it will come with a couple of million Danes, who he expects will vote for him based on skin color. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/76 "2019-08-19T22:34:41Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If you took the joke to its logical conclusion, suppose Denmark comes up with eleventy grillion dollars and buys the USA. What happens? > > Denmark becomes the USA. It gets shitty health insurance and lots of guns. > > 320 million voters versus six million. It’s easy to see who’ll make the rules. > > As to Greenland, what the US would get, obviously, is a black hole in the budget. It would gain nothing else. Whatever Greenland offers in terms of resources the United States can simply buy; buying the territory is nuts. It’s like me solving my food problems by buying the grocery store rather than just buying groceries. I don’t see why they’d have to give their new territory voting rights. Perhaps they’d just use it for testing new weapon systems. Hmm, if Denmark _does_ fork over eleventy grillion dollars and buys the USA, who does it give the money to? And where do they go with it? ---
**Author:** ![yo\_han\_go](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yo_han_go/32/130_2.png) [@yo\_han\_go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yo_han_go)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/77 "2019-08-20T01:05:45Z")
Well it is saloon debate here, right? If I were Greenlander in a random Greenland bar i’d go like: “Sure, why not, just show the money. Everyone has a price, we are all whores in a nutshell, hic!” “But, but, no! We proud people!” “Trump put bazinga dollar in my pocket, me go Florida, hic!” "Shame on you “Olaf Tuktinktunklinuk!” On more serious note, this is not 17th century, but when clowns run the show … Maybe he (Trump) is believer in global thawing after all. Greenland can be worth literally billions per current native head without (or significantly less) ice cap a in few decades or centuries forthcoming. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/78 "2019-08-20T13:18:40Z")
It would be great if Denmark said, "sure buy Greenland, but only if it comes into the USA as 2 Democratic states, not a “territory”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/79 "2019-08-20T15:03:06Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > With respect to US interests, buying Greenland is not the dumbest idea in the world. It has lots of natural resources and strategic importance to the US. I believe at issue too is fishing rights in the North Atlantic. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752/80 "2019-08-20T19:22:23Z")
It’s probably the only decent idea the Trump admin has had. The sad thing is that Trump thinks global warming is a hoax but will believe it if 12 billion gallons a day of ice sheet melting translates into mining profits. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-valuable-would-greenland-be-to-the-united-states/838752.md?page=5)