# Will Trump try and annex Greenland if Denmark persist in refusing to sell? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 21, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002 "2019-08-21T15:22:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/21 "2019-08-21T17:08:17Z")
A relevant post from the pit thread on the Trump admin: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21817742&postcount=35675](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21817742&postcount=35675) > [@The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35601): > > Re Denmark and the yelps about being a “loyal ally”, made me laugh. > The Danes signed up to be the US’s bum boy, since it was a better option then being the Russians bum boy, and they had just been tye Germans bum boy and that had been no fun. > > Well, in exchange for protection, you gotta do whatcha gotta do. Trump wants [del]their bum[/del] _Greenland._ > Trump typically gets what Trump wants. > [@The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35604): > > The last 4 years, or the Post Escalator (PE) has been one continuous case of \*Trump can’t/won’t \* followed by _oh fuck, he can/did_ > Why don’t people wise up now? In case anyone else is confused why “No, he’s just not going to get Greenland” isn’t an option listed. Anyways, I’m going with option D: “Trump is crazy but he’s not about to declare war on the EU over a random pronouncement like this”. And I will gladly take bets on that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/22 "2019-08-21T17:37:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I would have preferred a more realistic no option, like: > > 1. No, because his mind will wander to some new topic and he’ll forget he ever mentioned Greenland. > 2. No, because Putin will tell him he’s not allowed to do it. > 3. No, because somebody will tell him he can’t rename it Trumpland. This. And of those the most likely outcome is 1. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/23 "2019-08-21T17:43:27Z")
No he won’t. No “giving in” will happen either. This is a distraction, at best. His meme with the hotel was a literal shitpost. He’s trolling, y’all. I am HIGHLY suspicious that he didn’t want to go to Denmark for whatever reason, and cooked this Greenland thing up to use Denmark’s refusal as an excuse not to go. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/24 "2019-08-21T18:24:38Z")
I saw something about how Obama is going to Denmark in September, and he didn’t want to expose himself to the accusation that Obama was going to draw bigger crowds and a friendlier audience than he would. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/25 "2019-08-21T18:30:08Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > I saw something about how Obama is going to Denmark in September, and he didn’t want to expose himself to the accusation that Obama was going to draw bigger crowds and a friendlier audience than he would. Obama should negotiate the purchase of Greenland, and then Trump would have to sell it back as part of his anti-Obama presidency. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/26 "2019-08-21T18:32:22Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > I saw something about how Obama is going to Denmark in September, and he didn’t want to expose himself to the accusation that Obama was going to draw bigger crowds and a friendlier audience than he would. Well, that makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/27 "2019-08-21T18:59:20Z")
Here we go, I found it: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/21/trump-just-nixed-denmark-trip-does-he-fear-contrast-with-obama/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/21/trump-just-nixed-denmark-trip-does-he-fear-contrast-with-obama/) It’s behind a paywall though. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/28 "2019-08-21T19:54:21Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > A relevant post from the pit thread on the Trump admin: > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21817742&postcount=35675](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21817742&postcount=35675) The path goes like this: 1. Trump declares he wants something and he will have it. 2. His followers agree that Trump will get what he wants. 3. Trump fails to get what he said he wanted. 4. Trump declares he never wanted it in the first place. 5. His followers agree that Trump never said he wanted it. 6. His followers say that Trump got exactly what he wanted. 7. His followers say that Trump is playing four-dimensional chess and we can’t understand what he’s doing. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/29 "2019-08-21T21:15:40Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The path goes like this: > > 1. Trump declares he wants something and he will have it. > 2. His followers agree that Trump will get what he wants. > 3. Trump fails to get what he said he wanted. > 4. Trump declares he never wanted it in the first place. > 5. His followers agree that Trump never said he wanted it. > 6. His followers say that Trump got exactly what he wanted. > 7. His followers say that Trump is playing four-dimensional chess and we can’t understand what he’s doing. Just like that time he repealed ACA and replaced it with much better healthcare! I didn’t vote since my answer wasn’t an option. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/30 "2019-08-21T21:32:42Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > No. I don’t even think Trump is the that dumb, and that’s saying a lot. > > ETA: I couldn’t vote for either of your 'No" choices. This. I couldn’t vote for either of the no reasons, as they are both wrong as well. Basically, the answer is no…and he probably never intended anything towards Greenland in the first place. It was just Trump being the chaotic mess that he is, and saying some random shit to see what kind of attention he’d get and how folks would react, so that he could see what he wanted to say next to react to their reaction. It didn’t mean anything, just like most of what he says. I saw a great quote on this earlier. To paraphrase, he’s not playing 3-dimensional chess because, basically, he’s not playing any chess at all and neither knows nor cares what the rules of chess are. He’s just throwing shit at a wall to see what sticks and also to see what he should talk about next based on the patterns the shit makes on the wall. And, ironically, people fall for this every time. I note, with no little irony, that there are multiple threads on the 'dope talking about Greenland as if this were a real thing and as if Trump were really serious about it (or anything else). Good grief, he’s the biggest troll in history! He should be banned from the 'dope. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![sjankis630](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@sjankis630](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjankis630)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/31 "2019-08-22T02:27:19Z")
> [@](#): > > (3) Space Force I totally forgot about this and I have not seen or heard a word on this since he mentioned it months ago. Do you think it is all being done so high up in space that we cannot see what progress has been made? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/32 "2019-08-22T02:39:35Z")
> [@XT](#): > > I saw a great quote on this earlier. To paraphrase, he’s not playing 3-dimensional chess because, basically, he’s not playing any chess at all and neither knows nor cares what the rules of chess are. He’s just throwing shit at a wall to see what sticks and also to see what he should talk about next based on the patterns the shit makes on the wall. And, ironically, people fall for this every time. I note, with no little irony, that there are multiple threads on the 'dope talking about Greenland as if this were a real thing and as if Trump were really serious about it (or anything else). Good grief, he’s the biggest troll in history! He should be banned from the 'dope. 😛 If Trump was hosting a radio show and saying these crazy things, we could just ignore him. But God help us all, he’s the actual President of the United States. Which means we need to pay attention when he says something crazy. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/33 "2019-08-22T03:11:43Z")
> [@XT](#): > > To paraphrase, he’s not playing 3-dimensional chess because, basically, he’s not playing any chess at all and neither knows nor cares what the rules of chess are. He’s just throwing shit at a wall to see what sticks and also to see what he should talk about next based on the patterns the shit makes on the wall. And, ironically, people fall for this every time. I note, with no little irony, that there are multiple threads on the 'dope talking about Greenland as if this were a real thing and as if Trump were really serious about it (or anything else). Good grief, he’s the biggest troll in history! He should be banned from the 'dope. 😛 Yes, exactly. When people, including the media, go on and on analyzing what Trump does as if it were some kind of grand scheme they just play into his dog-and-pony show. He doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing, so instead he just puts on an act. It’s so obvious from how he talks that he’s always just pulling things out of his ass as he goes, hoping it will get a reaction. Why do they think he’s always answering reporters’ questions with things like, “We’ll see,” or “We’re looking into that,” etc? It’s because he didn’t see anything about it on Fox News, so he’s totally clueless. If the media had any self-respect they would just stop asking him questions and ignore him. It doesn’t matter that he’s president. Just talk to someone else in the administration, and let the attention whore starve. ---
**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 22, 2019, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/34 "2019-08-22T05:10:33Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Considering we still don’t have (1) a wall, (2) the 30-day plan for defeating ISIS, or (3) Space Force, I am not going to be holding my breath. Well, at least Obamacare got repealed and replaced with “something terrific”, and Hillary is in jail where she belongs. Oh, wait. Fortunately the US does possess a sort of semi-functional government, and it won’t let the toddler-in-chief start a war with a NATO ally over his temporary infatuation with a shiny toy, even if said toddler throws a tantrum. This is the kind of insanity where the chain of command breaks down and that the 25th Amendment and the power of impeachment were created for. ---
**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 22, 2019, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/35 "2019-08-22T05:12:20Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Yes, exactly. When people, including the media, go on and on analyzing what Trump does as if it were some kind of grand scheme they just play into his dog-and-pony show. He doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing, so instead he just puts on an act. It’s so obvious from how he talks that he’s always just pulling things out of his ass as he goes, hoping it will get a reaction. Why do they think he’s always answering reporters’ questions with things like, “We’ll see,” or “We’re looking into that,” etc? It’s because he didn’t see anything about it on Fox News, so he’s totally clueless. > > If the media had any self-respect they would just stop asking him questions and ignore him. It doesn’t matter that he’s president. Just talk to someone else in the administration, and let the attention whore starve. [Trump’s contradictions hit a fever pitch](https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/22/politics/donald-trump-economy-guns-republicans-foreign-policy/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/36 "2019-08-22T05:27:07Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > He doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing, so instead he just puts on an act. It’s so obvious from how he talks that he’s always just pulling things out of his ass as he goes, hoping it will get a reaction. Why do they think he’s always answering reporters’ questions with things like, “We’ll see,” or “We’re looking into that,” etc? It’s because he didn’t see anything about it on Fox News, so he’s totally clueless. “Would we annex Greenland? That’s a good question, and it’s one that should be asked. So I’ve appointed a committee to look into that very question, and it will report to me soon, and we’ll know better about our course of action then.” It’s a nice way to deflect unwanted questions, and has been used by politicians since forever (I’d guess), but Mr. Trump is no politician and he’s not that smart. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/37 "2019-08-22T05:39:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I would have preferred a more realistic no option, like: > > 1. No, because his mind will wander to some new topic and he’ll forget he ever mentioned Greenland. > 2. No, because Putin will tell him he’s not allowed to do it. > 3. No, because somebody will tell him he can’t rename it Trumpland. You want something “_realistic_”. With _Donald Trump_? ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/38 "2019-08-22T12:12:59Z")
> [@XT](#): > > This. I couldn’t vote for either of the no reasons, as they are both wrong as well. Basically, the answer is no…and he probably never intended anything towards Greenland in the first place. It was just Trump being the chaotic mess that he is, and saying some random shit to see what kind of attention he’d get and how folks would react, so that he could see what he wanted to say next to react to their reaction. It didn’t mean anything, just like most of what he says. > > I saw a great quote on this earlier. To paraphrase, he’s not playing 3-dimensional chess because, basically, he’s not playing any chess at all and neither knows nor cares what the rules of chess are. He’s just throwing shit at a wall to see what sticks and also to see what he should talk about next based on the patterns the shit makes on the wall. And, ironically, people fall for this every time. I note, with no little irony, that there are multiple threads on the 'dope talking about Greenland as if this were a real thing and as if Trump were really serious about it (or anything else). Good grief, he’s the biggest troll in history! He should be banned from the 'dope. 😛 Absolutely this! He’s just trolling the media, so he can point and laugh at how gullible they(we) are. And the lame-ass media have swallowed the bait, hook, and leader. They must take a huge chunk of the responsibility for the clustershit that we’re all mired in these days. But they’re so focused on the profits, that they won’t. More seriously, his administration is probably doing some super-evil stuff while we’re all looking north. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/39 "2019-08-22T13:28:53Z")
> [@somepumpkin](#): > > Absolutely this! He’s just trolling the media, so he can point and laugh at how gullible they(we) are. And the lame-ass media have swallowed the bait, hook, and leader. They must take a huge chunk of the responsibility for the clustershit that we’re all mired in these days. But they’re so focused on the profits, that they won’t. > > More seriously, his administration is probably doing some super-evil stuff while we’re all looking north. Like, don’t get me wrong, this would be cute and funny… But at the same time he’s canceling diplomatic appointments and pissing off longtime allies for the sake of, apparently, nothing. We can talk all we want about how he’s “trolling” but the sheer fact that he’s the president means we necessarily _have_ to take what he says seriously on _some_ level, because when your crazy racist uncle you should have disowned years ago says “We should buy greenland”, the response is, “That’s cute, have some more peas Uncle Gingrich”, and when the president says it, the response is, “is he serious, and is he about to ruin our image on the world stage again?” Now, in an even remotely reasonable society, this would have been one of a dozen reasons to remove Trump from office immediately. We are not a sane society. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002/40 "2019-08-22T13:33:39Z")
And people say there are no stupid questions Oh wait a sec, nobody ever said there are no stupid polls. I withdraw my comment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-try-and-annex-greenland-if-denmark-persist-in-refusing-to-sell/839002.md?page=3)