22 Aug 2019

Trump pulls out of Denmark trip amid spat over Greenland sale

From Morning Report, 6:09 am on 22 August 2019
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump disembark from Air Force One upon arrival at El Paso International Airport following last weekend's mass shootings.

Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP

US President Donald Trump has cancelled a state visit to Denmark after the nation's prime minister said Greenland was not for sale.

Mr Trump was scheduled to visit in two weeks' time, on the invitation of the Queen of Denmark.

Last week he suggested the US was interested in buying Greenland - an autonomous Danish territory.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the suggestion "absurd" and said she hoped Mr Trump was not being serious.

Mr Trump said it was "nasty" of her to call his proposal absurd.

Kenneth Mortensen, a real estate agent in the Greenland capital of Nuuk, spoke to Susie Ferguson about how the spat has helped put Greenland on the map.