President-elect Donald Trump is not planning a military invasion of Greenland, nor should he. However, he does actually make sense when he suggests that the United States should try to acquire Greenland from Denmark peacefully. Trump and Congress should look closely into how much Greenland would be worth to this country and examine whether it would be worthwhile to offer to buy it from Denmark for an appropriate price.
U.S. purchases of territory have a long and beneficial history. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 doubled the nation’s territory in one fell swoop. The 1819 Florida Purchase, the 1848 Mexican Cession, the 1853 Gadsden Purchase, and the 1867 Alaska Purchase all proved to be wise moves for the U.S. while bringing beneficent government to those lands. And the U.S. even has a history of buying from Denmark itself, in the $25 million purchase of what would become the…
