President-elect Donald Trump’s allies in Congress are working to deliver on his vow to make Greenland part of the United States. Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced a bill on Monday, Jan. 13, to allow Trump to enter into talks with Denmark over purchasing the arctic island on his first day in office.
The bill, titled the “Make Greenland Great Again Act,” would allow Trump to enter into negotiations with the Danish government, just after noon on Inauguration Day.
The bill would give Congress the ability to block any agreement within 60 days, but it would need a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate to do so.
Danish officials have repeatedly said the island is not for sale, but are reportedly open to more dialogue with the United States on an increased military presence in the region, which is vital to European and North American national security.
Some residents of the autonomous Danish island also say that it is not for sale, and told The New York Times that they do not want to become Americans, citing fears they will lose benefits such as “free education, free health care and free medicine.”
Democratic leaders in Congress have also dismissed Trump’s desires to acquire Greenland, and the bill would almost certainly need bipartisan support to pass.
Some Democrats, like Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, have not ruled out working with Trump on making Greenland part of the United States.
Additionally, Trump would not be the first president to try to buy Greenland. In the 1860s, President Andrew Johnson considered buying the island, and decades later President Harry Truman secretly offered Denmark $100 million in gold to swap the island for parts of Alaska.
