Who Suggested the Idea of Buying Greenland to Trump?

The idea of buying Greenland did not originate from the Pentagon or the State Department. Billionaire Ronald Lauder, an old acquaintance of the president, was the first to conceptualize this venture. This was revealed in an interview with The Guardian by John Bolton, Trump's former national security advisor.

According to him, President Trump summoned him to the Oval Office and conveyed a new suggestion: a well-known businessman had proposed that the United States buy Greenland. Bolton later clarified that the businessman in question was Lauder. Following this conversation, the White House, according to the former advisor, began exploring options to strengthen American presence in the Arctic, including in Danish territories.

The interest quickly became public. In 2019, Trump publicly spoke about Greenland for the first time, after Copenhagen had already categorically rejected the idea of a deal. However, as reported by The Guardian, the U.S. president never fully abandoned this notion; it has resurfaced on the agenda amid a new wave of debates regarding Arctic security and competition between major powers.