Trump says rejection, comments by Danish leader ‘nasty’

The Associated Press

5 years ago

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen makes a comment on US President's cancellation of hi ... — Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen makes a comment on US President’s cancellation of his scheduled State Visit, in front of the State Department in Copenhagen, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019. U.S. President Trump announced his decision to postpone a visit to Denmark by tweet on Tuesday Aug. 20, 2019, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed the notion of selling Greenland to the U.S. as "an absurd discussion." (Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix)

President Donald Trump walks to Marine One after speaking with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019, in Washington. Trump is headed to Kentucky. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

CORRECTING DATE TO 20 – In this Aug. 16, 2019, photo, New York University student researchers sit on a rock overlooking the Helheim glacier in Greenland. U.S. President Trump announced his decision to postpone an early September visit to Denmark by tweet Tuesday Aug. 20, 2019, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed the notion of selling Greenland to the U.S. as "an absurd discussion." (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this Aug. 15, 2019, photo, a large Iceberg floats away as the sun sets near Kulusuk, Greenland. Greenland is where Earth’s refrigerator door is left open, where glaciers dwindle and seas begin to rise. Scientists are hard at work there, trying to understand the alarmingly rapid melting of the ice. For Greenland is where the planet’s future is being written. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — President Donald Trump does not appreciate Denmark’s rejection of his idea to buy Greenland.

The American leader told reporters on Wednesday that “all they had to say was, ‘No, we’d rather not do that.’”

Instead, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the idea “an absurd discussion” and said she was “disappointed and surprised” that Trump canceled his Sept. 2-3 visit to Denmark in a tweet earlier in the day.

Fredericksen said the U.S. remains one of Denmark’s close allies. Denmark’s royals had invited Trump but the palace says they were blindsided by the tweet canceling the trip.

Trump, leaving the White House for an event in Kentucky, said Frederiksen’s comments were “nasty,” adding “You don’t talk to the United States like that,” at least during his presidency.

Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.

The vast island of sits between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, has a population of 56,000 and has 80% of its land mass covered by a 660,000 square-mile ice sheet.