Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade estimated Monday that Greenland could cost some $1.5 trillion, after President-elect Trump said earlier this week the U.S. owning the country “is an absolute necessity.”
“It’s gonna cost about 1.5 trillion, but [it’ll] probably will pay off,” Kilmeade said on “Jesse Watters Primetime” while talking with Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley, in a clip highlighted by Mediaite.
The Hill reached out to Fox News Media about how Kilmeade arrived at the figure.
In a Sunday evening statement on Truth Social announcing his nominee to serve as ambassador to Denmark, Trump escalated his past rhetoric musing on the U.S. acquiring Greenland, an autonomous territory that’s part of Denmark.
“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump said in the Truth Social post.
Greenland’s prime minister said Monday in a statement the country is “not for sale,” according to reports from BBC and The Guardian.
“Why [is] he interested in Greenland?’ Kilmeade asked Whatley of Trump earlier in their conversation.
“Well, I think from a national security … perspective, as he said, you know, certainly a place that is very rich in minerals, and, you know, is geopolitically important for him,” Whatley responded.
Trump in 2019 expressed interest in buying Greenland, an idea largely dismissed by both experts and leaders of Denmark and Greenland.
Greenland, an island of some 56,000 inhabitants, has the right to declare independence from Denmark, but relies largely on Copenhagen for its budget.
The island has significant mineral, oil and natural gas wealth, but development has been slow, according to Reuters, with fishing still an economic pillar. It’s also strategically important to the U.S. military as the shortest route from Europe to North America.
Whatley also discussed Trump’s recent comments threatening to take back the Panama Canal, which has been under Panamanian control since the turn of the millenium.
“Well, he feels right now that America is not being treated fairly,” the RNC chair told Kilmeade.
“And when you think about the conversations we’ve had with Canada, Mexico and everybody else, there is a very common theme. America is going to be treated fairly or we are going to have conversations with countries all around the world.”
