White House Cancels Trump’s Visit to Denmark After Greenland Flap

The White House on Tuesday canceled President Trump’s planned visit to Denmark after the prime minister said she wouldn’t entertain his proposal to purchase Greenland from the Scandinavian nation.

“Denmark is a very special country with incredible people, but based on Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter.

The White House said later the president’s entire visit, which was scheduled for Sept. 2-3 and was to include dinner with Queen Margrethe II, had been canceled.

“The Prime Minister was able to save a great deal of expense and effort for both the United States and Denmark by being so direct. I thank her for that and look forward to rescheduling sometime in the future!” Mr. Trump added on Twitter.

The Wall Street Journal last week first reported Mr. Trump had discussed acquiring Greenland, with varying degrees of seriousness.

Greenland is an autonomous Danish territory. While Greenland’s government controls most domestic matters, foreign and security policy is handled by Copenhagen.

“Strategically, for the United States, it would be nice,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Sunday. “Essentially, it’s a large real-estate deal,” said the president, a former real-estate developer.

Mr. Trump, who called Denmark an important ally, added, “It’s not No. 1 on the burner.”