In Reply to: Trump wants to exchange Puerto Rico for Greenland posted by russsmith on June 17, 2026 at 21:03:15
. . . had previously been territory of Denmark. During one of our World Wars (I've forgotten which one) the U S. Navy wanted a forward base in the Atlantic and Denmark--tied up with war on its doorstep--couldn't really defend, or profit from, the Virgin Islands. So Denmark transferred The V.I. to the U.S.
But there was one more provision. The U.S. had been badgering Denmark about Greenland. Trump's not wrong about a longtime U S. interest in Greenland. So a provision of the V.I. agreement was that we renounced our interest in Greenland in perpetuity.
So, it seems to me that if we were going to trade for Greenland, historical symmetry should have us trading the V.I. for Greenland, not Puerto Rico.