The news articles revealing that President Trump was talking to aides about buying Greenland brought up a number of questions: yes, there are questions over WHY we'd want to do that, but the first question was: who gave him the idea in the first place? Now we know.
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton says he's the one who suggested buying Greenland to President Trump. Cotton spoke at an event yesterday in Little Rock and told a luncheon crowd he brought up the idea to the President and the Danish ambassador.
Why? Greenland is a self-governing province of Denmark and Cotton said the island's rich mineral resources would make it a no-brainer to acquire. The U.S. has operated an Air Force base at Thule in Greenland since 1943. It's the northern most installation of the U.S. Armed Forces.
President Trump canceled a planned meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, saying there was no point to the trip after Frederiksen called the idea that the U.S. might buy Greenland from Denmark "absurd." The President was upset at the tone of Frederiksen's response to the stories, calling the response, "nasty" and indicating that the leader could have been more respectful. Don't worry, though - the meeting will be rescheduled. No war with Denmark over Greenland is foreseen.