He didn’t act huffy at all. They could have told him in person that there would be no deal, but they did so publicly and sarcastically. So, he complimented their country and people and politely thanked the PM for not wasting either of their time and canceled the trip. What’s the problem here?
You are exactly correct. Not only that, but withdrawing from a state visit, invited by the Queen of Denmark, is a snub to the whole country which is unlikely to be forgotten any time soon. A huge amount of preparation goes into these events (just look at the UK state visit) and it looks petty to withdraw so late on what looks like nothing more than a whim.
This is a rare own goal, I’m afraid.
“Out of the blue, Trump wanted to buy Greenland, Denmark says “no”, and Trump says “I’m not going to talk to you” and cancels a trip.”
What an overly simplistic view of the matter uninformed by any of the pertinent facts, and no amount of throwing gratuitous jabs at the President (ref. your #127) can change that.
The President did not just wake up one day and decide on the spur of the moment that he wants Greenland; rather, the US is slowly awakened to the growing presence and influence of China in the area and is rightfully alarmed.
Many articles had been written on China and Greenland, here is one from last year that touched on various aspects of the subject (one can choose to have ad blocker on):
Nobody knows exactly what had gone on in our talks with Denmark up to this point, but one thing is clear, the President is somewhat peeved with Denmark. It could be because they refused to do more to thwart China’s advances, or to intervene in Greenland’s decision to embrace Chinese investments.
With the ongoing trade war and its ramifications, China may find itself overextended and no longer have as much money to spend on its Belt and Road Initiative and other foreign projects, and is forced to retreat. That would be the best outcome for us.
I did tell you people. We did fall down some cosmic rabbit hole around 2007.
And, Trump’s behaviour is really weird.
That said, after thinking about it. Greenland probably would be better off under US “ownership”. For now, Greenland is just managing.
I guess in cases like this, what matters most is what the people who live there think.
Right of self determination and all that.
Greenland being rather exceptional in that case with so few people in such a huge area.