Donald Trump Jr. visited Greenland in August 2019, with his father’s trip to Denmark and the autonomous territory at the center of a diplomatic firestorm. The visit was met with criticism from some, who saw it as an attempt to buy the island, which is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, from the Danish government.
President Trump had scheduled the trip, which was initially meant to be a private visit, but it ended up being a formal event with meetings with senior Danish officials. However, the trip was cut short after the meeting with the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, did not go as planned, with the two leaders reportedly failing to agree on a number of issues.
The program, dubbed “a very quick romance” by one Trump administration official, was poorly received in Denmark, with many Danish and international observers criticizing the visit as a diplomatic faux pas. Many felt that the President’s actions and words were inappropriate, especially given the complex history between the US and Denmark, which dates back to World War II.
The situation only got weirder from there, with Trump making a surprise appearance at a press conference in front of the iconic Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he made claims about his friendship with the Queen of Denmark, proclaiming that she had told him that the “enhanced” and “substantially” bid to buy Greenland, a claim that was later refuted by the Queen and the Danish government.
The whole ordeal led to widespread speculation about the President’s true intentions, with many believing that he was attempting to use the trip to score a major foreign policy victory, making up for his perceived shortcomings in other areas, or perhaps even to secure a major strategic position. Others saw the visit as an example of Trump’s “anti-Denmark posturing.”
Despite the challenges faced by the United States and Denmark during the visit, both nations eventually managed to find common ground, agreeing to engage in a series of diplomatic talks on a range of matters, including climate change, security, and trade, which, in turn, demonstrated the potential for constructive dialogue and cooperation between the two nations.