who cover it, think this is actually ever going to happen. andrea? robert costa, we do have a u.s. air base there. but the fact of buying greenland, harry truman thought about it in 1946 and also in 1867, there was talk about it. but in this day and age, it would be crazy. my spourss well, can i talk? yes. robert first and then let gillian in, too. my sources on capitol hill think this is a distraction that the president, whether or not he pursues this or not would generate public interest and he likes the idea of purchasing property coming out of the real estate business. in terms of the geopolitical strategy, this greenland issue is not something that s part of the whole u.s. approach to the world. it s more of an issue for president trump to talk about, like he would talk about some
it s located 750 miles north of the arctic circle which remains a critical area of the globe in terms of our ability to thwart and defend against particularly russian threats. reporter: and history suggests this truly may not be a crazy idea. in 1867, the u.s. bought another huge cold place which was mocked as a folly. but alaska has worked out pretty well for american interests. and two times before u.s. officials have raised the notion of buying greenland. still, the outlook for this real estate deal is not promising. it s not something you buy or sell. if countries want other territories, it s war. next month president trump will travel to denmark to meet with the prime minister and the premier of greenland. whether he will take his checkbook, no one knows. tom foreman, cnn, washington. joining us now, contributor and trump biographer michael d antonio, author of the book
globe in terms of our ability to thwart and defend against particularly russian threats. reporter: and history suggests this truly may not be a crazy idea. in 1867, the u.s. bought another huge cold place, but alaska has worked out pretty well for american interests and two times before u.s. officials have raised the notion of buying greenland. still, the outlook for about this real estate deal is not promising. it is not something that you buy or sell, if countries want other territories, it is war. next month president trump will travel to denmark to meet with the prime minister and premiere of green land. whether he will take his checkbook, no one knows. tom foreman, cnn, washington. once again president trump has gone through a shift on possible gun legislation. earlier this week following the mass shooting in texas and ohio and california, he claimed
translator: who takes trump seriously? i think that says it all about him. he s lost his connection to earth. well, they see the humor in it there in greenland. our senior international correspondent fred fliplieken i there and has more reaction of what people are saying. reporter: it seems like a lot of folks here in greenland seem to be mocking president trump s alleged idea to acquire this territory or possibly somehow purchase it. the government has come out and said, quote, greenland is not for sale. local folks in the southeast say look, this is something america has tried in the past. they talk about 1867 when there apparently was a push and the time shortly after world war ii. one resident said it simply isn t going to happen. now on the face of it, it might not be such a crazy idea for america to want to do this. greenland does have very vast natural resources that the
spoke to here said the americans tried to acquire greenland in 1867 and in world war ii and they failed, and one resident said it will not happen. there are some reasons why america might want to have greenland. it certainly does seem to have a lot of natural resources, and the chinese have been trying to get in on that business. it s not really something that the u.s. likes seeing with china trying to get a lot of that business here. also, the u.s., of course, has a big military base here in greenland as well, the thula military base. if these natural resources really become exploitable here in greenland, certainly the folks here would probably want autonomy, full autonomy and independence rather than becoming part of the united states. one of the things that president trump would probably have to do if he were to acquire greenland is finally acknowledge that climate change is real because greenland with its giant ice sheet is certainly on the front line in the battle against climate