Just weeks before being inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States, President-elect Donald J. Trump created an international political whirlwind by publicly proposing to purchase Greenland. Mr. Trump suggested that the U.S. needs the world’s largest island because of its strategic polar position (in the middle of the Northern Atlantic Ocean) and economic potential from rare earth mining.  This is not a novel idea from the new president. It has been considered by U.S. officials since 1867. Defense agreements with the Danes over those years for America’s (and NATO’s) security have allowed a U.S. military presence on the island since before World War I. This Arctic island is an “autonomous territory” of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nearly 70,000 Greenlanders are currently full citizens of that Nordic country, and many live in Denmark. They are represented by two seats in the Danish democratic-republic-styled parliament in Copenhagen, over 1,800 miles to the east. Denmark’s King Frederik André Henrik Christian was elevated from being the crown prince to being coronated as king one year ago, on Jan. 14, 2024. This followed his mother’s strategic abdication from the inherited position of queen.  The new monarch has not publicly responded to Trump’s bold plan; however, he has revealed a new coat of arms for the nation that features Greenland more prominently. Some Danish officials have bluntly said, “Greenland is not for sale.” I don’t think our new president has delusions of “manifest destiny” or visions of inspiring young men to “go, northeast young man, go northeast,” like Horace Greeley about America’s westward expansion in the mid-19th century. However, I think he understands the potential dangers of Russia or China’s manipulative measures of usery to control the economies of strategic small nations in Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Also, consider the subversive efforts of these countries to disrupt or destroy ocean communication cables or launch satellite/balloon surveillance over North America.  Perhaps the worst is the possibility of China or Russia legally buying or bullying those same countries to establish military bases — say in Greenland, Panama, or Venezuela! Gary Curtis  Newhall The post Gary Curtis | Is Greenland Purchase Farfetched? appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.