Republican Senator Tom Cotton brags that HE told Donald Trump to buy Greenland claiming it is 'the right decision for the country' as president revealed to have joked about swapping it for Puerto Rico

  • Republican Senator Tom Cotton bragged he told Trump to purchase Greenland 
  • 'I met with the Danish ambassador and I proposed that they sell Greenland to us,' he said, adding: 'I told the president you should buy it as well'
  • Trump, meanwhile, joked about trading Puerto Rico for Greenland
  • He has feuded with Puerto Rico's leadership since Hurricane Maria hit in 2017 
  • Trump abruptly canceled his upcoming two-day visit to Denmark after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said his plan to buy Greenland was 'absurd'
  • The president was so interested in the island he asked staff on the National Security Council to study its purchase 

Republican Senator Tom Cotton bragged he told Donald Trump to purchase Greenland as it was revealed the president joked about swapping the world's largest island for the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.   

'I can reveal to you that several months ago, I met with the Danish ambassador and I proposed that they sell Greenland to us,' Cotton told a luncheon in his home state of Arkansas.

That meeting with Danish Ambassador Lone Dencker Wisborg took place in August 2018 when Wisborg dropped by Cotton's Senate office.

The Arkansas senator, a close ally of Trump's on Capitol Hill, said he planted the idea in the president's head. 

'I told the president you should buy it as well,' Cotton told the luncheon, according to a local news report, adding that Trump 'heard that from me and from some other people as well.' 

The president, meanwhile, joked about trading Puerto Rico for Greenland - swapping the U.S. territory for the Danish held-island, The New York Times reported.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton bragged he told President Trump to purchase Greenland

Republican Senator Tom Cotton bragged he told President Trump to purchase Greenland

President Trump joked about trading Puerto Rico for Greenland

President Trump joked about trading Puerto Rico for Greenland

Greenland - at 836,300 square miles - is much larger than Puerto Rico's 3,515 square miles

Greenland - at 836,300 square miles - is much larger than Puerto Rico's 3,515 square miles

The move would rid Trump of another problematic issue for his administration:  the president has feuded with the leadership of Puerto Rico ever since Hurricane Maria devastated the Caribbean island in 2017. 

The sniping came as officials there have asked for more assistance in rebuilding the island's infrastructure and Trump claimed he was the 'best thing' that ever happened for the territory.

In July, Trump said Puerto Rico's leadership - Governor Ricardo Rosselló and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz - was terrible. 

'You have totally grossly incompetent leadership at the top of Puerto Rico,' he said. 'The leadership is corrupt and incompetent.'

Additionally, Greenland - at 836,300 square miles - is much larger than Puerto Rico's 3,515 square miles.

Trump on Tuesday abruptly canceled his upcoming two-day visit to Denmark after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said his plan to buy Greenland was 'absurd.'

The president had talked about buying Greenland - the mostly ice-covered island situated between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans - for more than a year.

He even tasked staff of the National Security Council to study the idea, The Times reported. 

Acquiring land that would increase the size of the United States by more than 20 percent appeared to the real estate developer in Trump. 

Additionally, Greenland has mineral resources and strategic military value that add to its appeal. 

Cotton said Greenland's 'economic potential is untold,' and the island is 'vital to our national security.'

'Anyone who can't see that is blinded by Trump derangement,' he said.  

Trump noted on Wednesday he was not the first president to bring up the idea of buying Greenland. 

'This is something that has been discussed for many years. Harry Truman had the idea of Greenland. I had the idea. Other people have had the idea. It goes back into the early 1900s. But Harry Truman very strongly thought it was a good idea. I think it is a good idea because Denmark is losing $700 million a year with it. It doesn't do them any good,' he told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House.

Greenland handles its own domestic affairs but Denmark covers its national security and foreign relations. The Danes also pay for 50 percent of the island's budget in direct subsidies with additional spending on defense. 

In total, Denmark spends about $740 million annually on Greenland, which boasts a population of just 56,000.

The island is home to the U.S. Thule Air Base. The northern-most U.S. base is part of the military's global network of radars and other sensors to provide ballistic missile warning and space surveillance.  

Sen. Cotton, seen with President Trump and Sen. David Perdue at the White House in 2017, is a close ally of Trump's on Capitol Hill

Sen. Cotton, seen with President Trump and Sen. David Perdue at the White House in 2017, is a close ally of Trump's on Capitol Hill

Interest in Greenland has grown as its ice sheet melts and more of its resources become available. The melting ice is also changing the availability of shipping routes in the Arctic. China and Russia have shown interest in the island. 

A 2014 report from the Brookings Institute noted that Greenland's mineral and energy resources – including iron ore, lead, zinc, diamonds, gold, rare earth elements, uranium and oil – are becoming more accessible due to its ice sheet melting. 

The president had been vocal about his interest in obtaining Greenland but Frederiksen slammed his scouting efforts as 'absurd', saying the semi-autonomous island is not for sale. 

Frederiksen was in Greenland on Monday to visit her counter part there when she said any talk of a sale was 'an absurd discussion.'

'Greenland is not for sale and U.S. President Donald Trump's idea of buying the semi-autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic from Denmark is an absurd discussion,' she noted. 

Trump, in retaliation, canceled his September 2 and 3rd visit to Denmark, which was originally seen as a thank you to the small northern European nation, which is a member of NATO and has supported the U.S. military missions in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Trump's plan to buy Greenland was 'absurd'

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Trump's plan to buy Greenland was 'absurd'

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark invited the Trumps for a state visit

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark invited the Trumps for a state visit

He was invited by Denmark's Queen Margrethe II for a state visit, which would have followed a stop in Warsaw, Poland, where the president will take part in a series of ceremonies in honor of the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II.

First lady Melania Trump was to have accompanied him and dinner with the Queen was on the agenda.  

The president initially claimed the visit wouldn't be about a Greenland purchase, his sudden cancellation has cast doubts on the intentions of his trip. 

'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,' the president wrote on Twitter Tuesday night. 

He also accused Frederiksen of being 'nasty' when she said his plan to buy Greenland was 'absurd.' 

'I thought that the prime minister's statement that it was absurd - that it was an absurd idea - was nasty. I thought it was an inappropriate statement. All she had to do is say no, we wouldn't be interested,' he said.  

He accused her of insulting the United States with her response. 

'She's not talking to me,' he said of Frederiksen. 'She's talking to the United States of America. You don't talk to the United States that way. At least under me.' 

Frederiksen, who took office two months ago as Denmark's second female head of government and the leader of the left-leaning Social Democratic Party, said relations between Copenhagen and Washington 'are not in any crisis in my opinion' after Trump canceled his visit.

'I don't believe that the cancellation should have any influence on other matters,' she said. 

She also confirmed Wednesday that 'a discussion about a potential sale of Greenland has been put forward.'

But she noted: 'It has been rejected by Greenland Premier Kim Kielsen, and I fully stand behind that rejection'. 

The prime minister said she was 'disappointed and surprised' by Trump's decision to cancel his two-day stop in her country. 

But she told reporters that 'the invitation for a stronger strategic cooperation with the Americans in the Arctic is still open'.