The Greenland saga is still unfolding, and it’s taking on the proportions of one of the epic Norse legends of old, with national leaders wrangling over a small (population-wise) land caught in the middle. The incoming President Trump seems to seriously want this to happen, and he has allies in Congress. In the latest, a U.S. Representative, Andy Ogles (R-TN) is sponsoring the “Make Greenland Great Again” Act to authorize the incoming president to begin negotiations with Denmark over the purchase.
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., is leading a bill to authorize Trump to enter negotiations with Denmark over purchasing Greenland, a territory located in North America but with longstanding cultural and geopolitical ties to Europe.
The bill is titled the “Make Greenland Great Again Act,” according to a copy of its text obtained by Fox News Digital.
“Joe Biden took a blowtorch to our reputation these past four years, and before even taking office, President Trump is telling the world that America First is back. American economic and security interests will no longer take a backseat, and House Republicans are ready to help President Trump deliver for the American people,” Ogles told Fox News Digital.
The Constitution places the power of the purse directly with the House of Representatives. This bill would, in part, not only authorize the Executive (President Trump) to enter into negotiations but will require him to submit the terms of any agreement to the House of Representatives to be acted upon, per the Constitution.
“Not later than 5 calendar days after reaching an agreement with the Kingdom of Denmark relating to the acquisition of Greenland by the United States, the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees the agreement, including all related materials and annexes,” the legislation said.
The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse, meaning the executive branch cannot make any purchases for the federal government without getting the funds first appropriated by the House of Representatives and approved in the Senate.
The question, of course, is how to pay for any purchase should it make its way through the process. Given that the United States is in debt, not up to our eyeballs but way past them, it’s a valid question. The answer may come from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – if they just eliminated, say, the federal departments of Education, Energy, Commerce, and one or two other alphabet-soup agencies that the Constitution doesn’t authorize in any case. A year or two’s worth of the savings ought to cover Greenland’s purchase.
See Related: Donald Trump Jr. Goes to Greenland. What Is He Up To?
Trump Magic Strikes Again: Denmark and Greenland Leaders Want to Talk
Republican Senator James Lankford (R-OK) also appears to be a tentative supporter of the idea. In an interview on NBC News on Sunday, he pushed back hard on the notion that President Trump would use the military to take Greenland by force.
Senator Lankford speaks on Greenland. https://t.co/K9cvf3DY6p via @nbcnews
— Ward Clark (@TheGreatLander) January 13, 2025
It’s important to note that, in the original discussion regarding Greenland, President-elect Trump was asked if he would rule out using “economic or military force,” which is quite a different rhetorical kettle of eels and a distinction that really should have been observed – but then, we don’t expect much from the legacy media these days, and with good reason.
The odds are almost certainly stacked against any outright purchase of Greenland by the United States. The assets that the US would like to take advantage of – the fisheries, the island’s mineral wealth, gas, and oil – are assets that Denmark will likely want to retain under their control. Denmark is a member of NATO, and there are already US military installations on Greenland, so the icy island is already under the American defense envelope.
But then, Donald Trump has pulled off unlikely things before.
