During his first term Donald Trump summoned national security adviser John Bolton to discuss a surprising idea: buying Greenland, a proposal Bolton said came from a prominent businessman. That businessman was Ronald Lauder, heir to the Estée Lauder fortune and long serving President of the World Jewish Congress.
Bolton said that after Lauder raised the idea, the White House began exploring ways to expand US influence in the Arctic. He added that Trump often treated suggestions from friends as unquestionable facts and Trump himself later developed business interests in the Danish territory.
Trump’s interest in Greenland resurfaced in his second term and has intensified, with the president now openly floating the idea of seizing the island by force. Lauder has publicly defended the concept, arguing Greenland is strategically vital because of rare-earth minerals and emerging shipping routes. At the same time, Lauder has invested heavily in Greenland, including ventures in water exports, energy, and other commercial projects.
Denmark and its European allies in NATO continue to condemn Trump’s threats as destabilising, but the president has insisted the US will pursue Greenland “either the nice way or the more difficult way.”
Meanwhile, small contingents of troops from several European nations have arrived in Greenland, supposedly as a demonstration of a serious deterrent to Russia and China, but in fact laying down a challenge to President Trump.
Lauder in 2014
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