"One day during his first term, Donald Trump summoned a top aide to discuss a new idea. Trump called me down to the Oval Office, John Bolton, national security adviser in 2018, told the Guardian. He said a prominent businessman had just suggested the US buy Greenland. It was an extraordinary proposal. And it originated from a longtime friend of the president who would go on to acquire business interests in the Danish territory."
"The businessman, Bolton learned, was Ronald Lauder. Heir to a makeup fortune the global cosmetics brand Estee Lauder he had known Trump, a fellow wealthy New Yorker, for more than 60 years. Bolton said he discussed the Greenland proposition with Lauder. After the billionaire's intervention, a White House team began to explore ways to increase US sway in the vast Arctic territory controlled by Denmark."
"Trump's renewed pursuit of Lauder's idea during his second term is typical of how the president operates, Bolton said. Bits of information that he hears from friends, he takes them as truth and you can't shake his opinion. The proposal seems to have stirred Trump's imperialist ambitions: eight years on, he is mulling not just buying Greenland but perhaps taking it by force."
John Bolton was national security adviser in 2018 and was summoned to the Oval Office to discuss a proposal to buy Greenland. The proposal came from Ronald Lauder, heir to the Estee Lauder cosmetics fortune and a longtime acquaintance of Donald Trump. After Lauder's intervention, a White House team explored ways to increase US influence in Greenland. Lauder later acquired commercial holdings in the territory and joined a consortium seeking Ukrainian minerals that intersected with related presidential demands. Trump treats suggestions from friends as factual and considered not only buying Greenland but potentially seizing it by force.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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