JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Buddy Carter, a member of the U.S. House representing a large portion of Southeast Georgia, has introducted a bill that would authorize President Donald Trump to enter into negotiations to “purchase or otherwise acquire” Greenland and to rename the territory as “Red, White, and Blueland.”
“America is back and will soon be bigger than ever with the addition of Red, White, and Blueland. President Trump has correctly identified the purchase of what is now Greenland as a national security priority, and we will proudly welcome its people to join the freest nation to ever exist when our Negotiator-in-Chief inks this monumental deal,” Carter, a Republican, said in a statement.
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The bill that was introduced Monday would authorize Trump to try to come to terms with Denmark’s government, but leaders there have said they have no plans to sell the island.
Last month Trump said he would not rule out the use of military force to seize control of Greenland, as he declared U.S. control of Greenland to be vital to American national security.
Trump’s intention marks a rejection of decades of U.S. policy that has prioritized self-determination over territorial expansion.
Greenland, home to a large U.S. military base, is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally and a founding member of NATO. Trump cast doubts on the legitimacy of Denmark’s claim to Greenland.
Addressing Trump’s comments in an interview with Danish broadcaster TV2 last month, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the United States Denmark’s “most important and closest ally,” and that she did not believe that the United States will use military or economic power to secure control over Greenland.
Frederiksen repeated that she welcomed the United States taking a greater interest in the Arctic region, but that it would “have to be done in a way that is respectful of the Greenlandic people,” she said.
“At the same time, it must be done in a way that allows Denmark and the United States to still cooperate in, among other things, NATO,” Frederiksen said.
Carter’s bill directs the secretary of the interior to make sure federal paperwork gets updated to the new name and gives a six-month deadline.
Trump has already altered the longstanding name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America with an executive order.
A bill filed Tuesday in Florida said Trump’s executive order directed the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior to “rename the Gulf of Mexico as the ‘Gulf of America’ in order to recognize the importance of the body of water to the United States.”
The bill would make the renaming official in state laws and legal descriptions.
Trump’s executive order addressed federal references to the gulf’s name, directing the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, which works under the Department of the Interior, to “provide guidance to ensure all federal references to the Gulf of America, including on agency maps, contracts, and other documents and communications shall reflect its renaming.”
Carter’s bill has been referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
